No Loose Ends
by Fae 206
Summary: As the year draws to a close, Ren has decided to leave LME and pursue his dreams in America. He's already landed himself the role of Arthur Curry on a comic-adapted TV show. However, because of her tendency to draw away and for him to get misled, Kuon is leaving without letting Kyoko know of who he is, where he is going, or how he loves n the loose ends be wrapped up? - Hiatus -
1. Chapter 1 - The Death of Ren Tsuruga

**AN:** Hope you enjoy. I was talking to someone today about disliking the drawn out nature of the manga right now and I thought of writing this which kind of is where my heart is right now. I hope that you enjoy it. If you could leave a review too it would be much appreciated.

 **No Loose Ends**

 **Chapter One – The Death of Ren Tsuruga**

Three months ago he had tried to tell her what would be happening, the fact that by the beginning of the following year, he, Kuon Hizuri, would be starting a new role in America. He had gone to audition under the stage name Ren but with his appearance and they had loved him but it had been decided that he would start the new TV show, a comic faithful retelling of Aquaman, in the new year.

That should have given him some time to finish with what he was doing.

In October he had grown tired of not making progress despite trying to subtly win favor with the girl that he adored and he had stepped up from flower rings, to getting her makeup and even, as a last resort, waiting for her outside where she was filming. He knew that he had to tell her but he had to make sure to do it in person.

Then again, maybe him turning up to set had been a little…over reaching.

With every time he would see her it would always start the same way, him asking her how her day was, how her work was, what she felt about the latest role or project that she was working on. She would respectfully treat him like her senior and whenever he wanted to get more intimate and honest with her, she would pull back as if he had just suggested peeing all over her. He needed him and time wasn't something he had.

He was giving up. He loved her but it wasn't enough for him to get his heart broken time after time after time, there weren't enough BandAids in the world for him to do that. He looked through his phone messages again as Ten finished on his hair. He smiled as he placed the contacts into the case. His work in Japan was done.

"Thank you for everything," he smiled politely to her as he got up and dropped into a bow. "I am so appreciate of you taking such good care of me," he told her before seeing her pout.

"I'm sad I have to give such a beauty like you up and I heard that you'll be going by your real name over there and I don't even know what that is," she said and Ren gave another weak smile.

"It's Kuon, Hizuri Kuon," he told her to see her mouth drop open and he shrugged a little. Jelly opened her mouth to say something but they both saw the president there, grinning like a proud parent whose kid was about to graduate college.

"Are you sure you can't stay until after the new year?" he asked and Ren shook his head. "Well, I wish you'd at least stay until Christma-"

"What's the point?" Ren sighed as he pulled out his company ID and a set of keys for some of the high access places. Lory took the keys but kept the ID with Ren.

"You'll want that as a souvenir….Kuon," he said and Kuon nodded, his eyes showing that he was scared to make this leap but he felt confident that he could do it. He had done some minor roles internationally and a lot of modelling work, now it was time to prove that he could make it in Hollywood as an actor.

"Thank you, Boss" Kuon grinned as he dropped into a bow as well.

Lory sighed, "You know, it sounds like there's going to be some really great food at the party, good nightlife, a lot of…pleasure," he tried to stir Kuon off but the guy's heart couldn't give any longer. He smiled to Lory.

"Enjoy it for me, okay? I think that my mother might attack you with savage wolves if you kept me away from her for another Christmas. You've been in touch with my dad right, he kno-"

"Shuuhei is going to meet you at the airport and promises that he'll help you find an apartment as soon as your mother lets him," Lory said before leading Kuon to the office. "I've got one more surprise for you before you board your plane tonight."

"You didn't tell he—" Kuon said nervously but as they stepped in, he found that Kyoko wasn't the person waiting in the president's office.

Ren Tsuruga had already said his parting words to Yashiro Yukihito but Kuon Hizuri hadn't. He stood stunned as the manager took him in, his eyes widening and his jaw dropping. He could see the excitement in Yashiro's eyes.

"Oh my god, you're Ren, right?" he asked as he started to bounce up and down slightly, noticing all the changes and differences. "Ren, it's not a -"

"I'm the former Tsuruga Ren," he grinned to Yashiro before dropping into a formal bow, "Thank you, Yashiro, for all of your guidance over these years, for being a manager to a reckless teenager who had too much anger inside of him, for helping me by being the best manager one could ask for and an amazing friend. I'm sorry that I never told you my real name but hopefully, since Boss has given the chance for me to do so," Kuon's breath caught on his throat as he held out his hand. "Hizuri, Kuon."

Yashiro paled as he stared at him, everything was starting to make sense now and he felt that there weren't words which he had the ability to say. "Wow," he finally said as he shook his head to get over the shock. He shook Kuon's hand, "It was an honor to work with you, Kuon," he said and Kuon paused before doing something that neither Yashiro or Lory expected from him, he hugged his manager before pulling back.

"It would be an honor to stay in contact with you," Kuon said and Yashiro grinned.

"Definitely. I don't want you to starve to death. Have you tried contacting Kyo—" Yashiro started and Kuon shook his head.

"I'm on my way to the airport," he told him, "as I said yesterday, I've been gone from home for long enough. I'll walk there myself," he said but felt surprised when Lory hugged him. Kuon went to grab one of his bags, the two others in a car waiting for him arranged by the president. Kuon took a look around the room and then walked out not knowing when would be the last time he would see LME and all of the people who still worked here. He wanted to leave with no fuss and give people the idea that maybe Ren Tsuruga was still out there after all.

As Kuon got to the lowest level of the building, he pulled something out of his bag and looked at it again, a set of the Love Me stamps. He could remember putting the different stamps on Kyoko's book and it felt like something that would always tie him to her. It was where his memories of her were brought forth, where they met. He would always love her even if he would never have her.

He checked his watch before walking over to the stairway where he had picked up Corn and went to where he had found the stone. He smiled, tears in his eyes as he felt the pain of losing her but it wasn't going to be good to labor on this. A tiny amount of progress after all of these months that never led anywhere, that wasn't good for anyone.

As he stood there, he felt his back straighten as he saw Kyoko seeing him there. He wasn't sure whether to pretend to her or not. He might never see her again.

"Corn?" she asked confused and he looked at her, she had grown up so beautifully and since she was earning more, she could treat herself if only just a little. "What are you doing here?"

"I suppose I'm here to say goodbye," he told her and Kyoko blinked before blushing.

"You used your magic again," she said as she turned bright red hearing that voice, "You sound like him. I guess I'm not doing very well at getting him out of my head."

"It should be easier now," Kuon told her as he looked away and Kyoko could see the seriousness on his face, his more human expression. "Kyoko. I'm sorry. You must think that I'm the biggest creep on the planet, the biggest jerk ever -"

"I would never think that about you, Cor—" she began and Kuon looked at her with a guarded expression.

"I'm not a fairy prince. I went along with those ideas when you were a kid because I needed to make someone feel happy. I'm not such a jerk that I'll let a girl sob alone and when we were at Karuizawa, you told me that you were surprised to see me somewhere you didn't think I would-" he started and Kyoko froze, everything clicking around in her head.

"I've been attempting to tell you this for three months but you've never allowed me to get it out," he said as he looked away from her and Kyoko felt as if her breath had been stolen. She took a few steps backwards as it all started to make sense. The way that he wouldn't tell her his name. The way that he knew how to help her when she was worried about Corn. The way he had held that stone when he had been standing right here. The proportions of his body, the voice, the…she was such an idiot.

"Tsuruga-san?" she asked as she took a step backwards.

"Ren Tsuruga was a name I used to make my way in this business because it was far too hard to make a dent in the industry when you're Kuon Hizuri, the son of Kuu HIzuri. I was fired multiple times and following….following the loss of my friend, the president took me here and helped me find work as a favor for my parents. He wouldn't have done it if I hadn't had talent but he would never have thought about it were it not for my father."

Kuon sighed, he could see that she was backed against the wall with her arms wrapped around her. He had scared her, he had never wanted to scare her. "I'm sorry, think whatever you want of me but I'm done. I'm going to be the lead actor in a new TV show that's being shot in L.A. I'm not coming back here, I'm sorry."

"Was this all…a ga-ga-game fff-for you?" Kyoko asked through her tears, her body feeling like it was being ripped open and he shook his head.

"No. No, it wasn't a game for me. I've just lived so many years with this secret. It was important that until I was able to work in America that I would follow the president's rules and I would be Tsuruga Ren. Never did I think that you would be here. I thought that you would have stayed in Kyoto. I'm sorry, Mogami-san," he said as Kyoko started to cry with more painful sobs. "If I don't leave now I'm going to miss my car. I wish you luck in the future," he told her and Kyoko stared at him.

"Am I allowed to hate you?" she asked as her body shook and he paused before nodding.

"You're free to have whatever feelings you want but please know that….no, it would be selfish of me to leave you with that," he said as he started walking away from her and Kyoko rushed after him as soon as she had caught her breath. Suddenly the world seemed far too sunny, too full of light.

"Are you coming back?" she asked. It hadn't been announced on any major news shows, he just meant that he had some temporary overseas work, right? "It's just…"

"This is my final day as an actor in the Japanese entertainment industry," he told her and Kyoko's mouth opened. Kuon bowed his head and walked towards her. He leaned down and nervously pushed some of her hair behind her ear. He sighed and was surprised that she ran to him again, her arms wrapping around his torso as she sobbed into his shirt.

"Listen," he told her gently, "You're such a skilled actress, Mogami-san. You've always done your work well and developed your characters. You'll continue to do great things and I have no doubt that you will be the actress that represents Japan and who knows, maybe we'll even work together on a set if you do some international filming," he told her and Kyoko closed her eyes and attempted to steady her breaths. "I would love to work together as actors in the future and maybe one day we will be able to do so. Good luck with your career because I know you'll do amazing things."

"Tell me," Kyoko said as she refused to let go of his shirt, people starting to stare at them from all directions, "What did you want to say that would be selfish? I should know why I hate you," she said though anyone could see that hate wasn't the feeling she was going through.

"That I love you," he told her and Kyoko paused.

"You say that to all the girls, what about your girlfriend, the girl you like…" Kyoko said nervously and Kuon looked at her confused. He didn't know what she was talking about. He didn't have anyone that he was dating. He sighed.

"I love _you_ and only you," he said to her and she took a step back, he adjusted his bag on his arm before walking towards the private exit of the building where the car would be waiting for him. Kyoko blinked back the tears, no…she couldn't let her tears blind her now, she couldn't let these emotions prevent her from following him. With a deep breath in she followed him out into the street.

Kyoko wandered out blinded by her tears, shocked by her emotions, and she managed to see him giving the bag to some guy in a car. She wanted to stop him. She wanted to – she ran into the road without looking and the next few moments happened before she was even aware of them.

There was a big black shadow, then something grabbed her and she found herself to fall onto the sidewalk, she looked up and she saw the crumpled body of a blond man aged twenty-one.

Kyoko's body caught onto one thing that made everything within her turn to ice, blood.

Kyoko stepped backwards as she heard the driver run over to Corn's…no Ren's…no Kuon's body.

Something had landed by her feet, LME stamps, the same ones that Ren Tsuruga had used to put points in her book when she was starting out as an actress.

Then, amid yelling and the sound of phone calls being made, Kyoko felt cold and dark and silent as she lost consciousness and connection with the world around her.

Kyoko had fainted.

 **End of Chapter One**

 **Thank you for reading**

 **Thank you Erza Tsuruga for motivating me to write this by chatting with me**


	2. Chapter 2 - Bad News

**AN:** Thanks for choosing to read this fic 😊 I'm trying to get rid of my frustration with the manga by writing this. There are several plot twists but I am hoping for some Kuon-Kyoko stuff even if just gradually but hey, there will be more than the manga.

 **Chapter Two – Bad News**

It would be about sixteen hours until Kuon's flight landed and Kuu couldn't hide his excitement. After so many years, his son would be coming home. He grinned thinking about it. He had taken the whole week off so that he could prepare for Kuon's return and so that he could spend some time with his son once he had returned. Julie had been dancing around the house for three months once he had told her, or rather asked if his return was okay.

They would have their son back. He had matured and turned into an amazing guy, a world-class actor and all of that lost time would be but a memory that they could put in the past. Kuu had hoped for something to blossom between Kuon and Kyoko but he didn't want his son to endure so much pain, the pain that Boss had been telling him about.

Kuu looked at the clothes that he would be wearing to meet Kuon in. He hummed as he tried to straighten them up. His son would call him Mom and Dad again. He would be able to celebrate his twenty-second birthday at home and they would be enjoying a Christmas together after so many years.

Julie was standing opposite a magnificent Christmas tree that they had yet to decorate, it was her hope that they could decorate it as a family or maybe just her with Kuon sitting and watching her. As long as they could do it together. They were going to be able to spend some time as a family again and she was going to be able to give her son all the love that she had wanted to for six years.

It was at this point though that the phone rang and Kuu went to pick it up, "Hello, you've reached the Hizuri residence."

"Shuuhei," Lory said in a heavy manner and Kuu's back straightened as he held the phone closer. "There's been, something tragic has happened."

"Something…" Kuu walked over to the stairs to sit down on them. This sounded like a situation where he needed to sit down. "Tell me honestly, please be as clear as you can be," he said as his gut twisted. Something had gone wrong, it must have gone wrong. Why was it when everything was going so well that the worst things in life happened? "He's not…tell me," he whispered.

"Yes, right now he's alive but he was hit by one of the large delivery vans, you know the type," Lory said gravely and Kuu froze. Most people wouldn't have survived that, they'd be dead from the impact. His breaths turned more shallow but he tried to keep himself calm. "There was a lot of blood. It won't be reported on any news site or channel, I've made sure to take care of that. He was hit when he was Kuon and not Ren."

Kuu took a few more deep breaths, "What is his prognosis? His chances of survival?" he asked and Lory maintained his calmness as well.

"He's showing a good chance of survival," Lory told him, "He's been admitted to the hospital as Kuon Hizuri so it's up to you whether you want to come now or…he should be able to return to America at the beginning of next year."

Kuu paused, he tried to think it through. Boss definitely did sound confident that Kuon would be able to travel so it wasn't that bad a thing but these delivery vans were monsters in their size especially if they were carrying stage items and he had just heard that Kuon had been thrown back with a lot of blood. He didn't know whether to be hopeful or not.

"You're not telling me something," he said as he tried to think it over. Kuon was skilled in self-defense but that was against other people, not in serious road accidents. "Where did the blood come from? Does he need surgery? How are his organs?"

"He's in recovery, he has a strong chance of survival," Lory repeated and Kuu brought his head down, his fingers running through his dyed hair. How could this have happened? All Kuon had needed to do was to say his final good byes at LME, get in a car, go to the airport, and catch a flight. How had something like that gone so wrong?

"Can you do me a favor?" Kuu asked with heavy breaths, "Any hospital bills that need to be paid for, please forward them to me. Does he need an organ donation? Blood donation? I'll take a test and I'm sure Julie would to if you need to find someone who is a match."

"He's already had a blood transfer," Lory told him. "We'll have to see how he is when he wakes up. I'm really sorry, Kuu" he said and the actor nodded. They had expected too much, of course the world wouldn't be kind to them.

"I'll come over," Kuu told him, "Please forward all information to me, thank you for taking care of him, I'll be on the next flight over," he said before wrapping up the conversation. He looked up to see Julie standing before him in shock, her confusion in her eyes.

"What happened?" she asked and Kuu shook his head, unsure how to answer that question.

"Are you okay with traveling to Japan?" he asked and Julie nodded nervously.

"What happened?" she asked again, "You have to tell me. Is he okay? I'm his mother, Kuu, I have to know what's happening if it involves our Kuon."

"He was hit by a van and taken to the hospital," Kuu told her and Julie broke down into tears. Kuu wrapped her up in his arms. "He's a fighter though and he's really strong, the doctors are predicting that he's going to be okay. As for the role, maybe I could do something, influence it a little, the same producer approached me about a project. I mean, I know that Kuon wants to do this by himself but he was hit by a van, maybe the producer can shoot the TV show a little later."

Julie put a hand to his lips and shook her head, "That doesn't matter, Kuu. What matters is that he's alive and keeping him alive. That's the only thing that matters."

…

…

"Would you like to go to the hospital to get a check up?" Lory asked as he looked at Kyoko who was seated in front of him in his office. Of course Lory had heard exactly what had happened, it had been his man who was driving the car, he was listed as Kuon's emergency contact in Japan as well. He knew what was happening and the danger that Kuon was in that he refused to tell Kuu.

"No, I'm…" Kyoko whispered as she looked straight in front of her, "Have you heard from the hospital?"

"You shouldn't concern yourself with that," Lory told her bluntly and Kyoko's mouth opened but she didn't say anything, she didn't know if she had the right to say anything. Kuon could be dead because of her. If she hadn't had tried to run after him then he would be at the airport right now waiting for his flight.

"Can you answer a question for me?" Kyoko asked as she looked straight forward at the president. "Would I have died were Kuon not there?" she asked and Lory paused. He took a few deep breaths as he studied her, seeming to be looking for the answer, "Please, just tell me honestly."

"Honestly, yes, you would be dead," Lory finally told her. "It's amazing that Kuon is still alive. The plan that he had seems simple enough, he had ended things at this company, I let him out of his contract and especially since I'm a friend of his family I managed to waive some fees. All he needed to do was catch his flight and the dreams that he's been fighting six years for would have come to completion but he wasn't able to do that."

Kyoko felt the sobs inside her building. As much as she was angry at him for lying to her, she hadn't meant for this to happen to him. She knew that he had sacrificed his own life so that he could save her but why couldn't they _both_ be okay? She didn't feel that she had any right to be angry at him after he saved her life.

"Can I see him?" she asked and Lory stood, walking over to the window.

"I'm not trying to be harsh but I don't think that's a good idea," he told her and Kyoko paused. She and Corn were childhood friends, she had always looked up to Ren with respect and she loved him and did she…did she tell him that? "In fact, I'd prefer it if you stay away from him unless he approaches you," Lory looked at her. "You may think that he saved your life and you have all the right to see him after he did that but he needs to recover, rest, and if possible continue the acting dreams he's had for such a long time in America, please don't ruin this for him."

Kyoko felt herself get pale and she closed her eyes but all she could picture was the way that Kuon's body lay limply in the middle of the road, the second lane of traffic, and how he looked so much like a dog that had been hit. The way that he was struggling to breathe, how limp his body was. Hearing that he had saved her life and that was the cost hurt her terribly.

"I don't want for him to move to America," she said and Lory came over to sit in front of her.

"Are you prepared enough to tell him that you love him, to ask him to stay _for_ your benefit?" he asked and Kyoko shook her head, feeling guilty about that but knowing that the president could see through her lies. "Then it might be best for all parties if you just let it go. That boy has suffered enough, things that you might not even imagine. I want him to have a good life and focus on that dream that's been motivating him for so many years."

"He's going to recover though, isn't he?" Kyoko asked nervously, "He's going to be okay. He has to recover, his injuries," she struggled as she suddenly started to think about the past year. She had been so happy at Valentines Day, she had been happy during the time they had spent as the Heel siblings, but after she had thought that he was in love with Kimiko and after she started playing the role of Momiji everything had started to unravel. Those times he had come to see her after she had finished her acting assignment and she had shrugged him off and made sure to brush off any type of interest he showed her, he might have been attempting to tell her all of this.

Did he hate her? Had she done enough to him that he hated her now? He hadn't even told her that he was leaving the country or that he was resigning from LME. He used to share that kind of thing with her but she hadn't responded to his actions, instead running from them. There were so many things that were all too complicated that she had to deal with. She had left so many questions unanswered.

He should hate her.

Still, he was Corn and Corn was too gentle, too kind to hate anyone.

"Can you please just tell me about his injuries? There was so much blood, please, I…I want to know that he's going to be okay."

"I don't think he will be," Lory told her and Kyoko bowed her head.

"What did you tell Kuu-sama?" Kyoko asked and Lory shook his head.

"I covered up elements of the truth," he explained, "It's not worth losing hope especially when your son, who you have only seen once in six years, was supposed to be coming home to you but instead is in a hospital where his fate is uncertain. I'm not such a cruel person to break my friend's heart but no, I don't honestly think that he will be okay."

 **End of Chapter Two**

 **Thank you for reading, reviews are appreciated**

 **Thank you to the reviewers of Chapter One**

H-Nala, Kaname671, kikoune, ktoll9

 **AN2:**

I'm so thankful for all of the support. The ending was a cliffhanger but I'm writing from my emotions and frustration but there is a plan. Hope everyone continues to enjoy it.


	3. Chapter 3 - Traumatic or Very Traumatic

**AN:** Thank you for continuing this story. To kind of help with my writing, I might try to update this particular fic every day. I had a story, "Awake" that I did that with and it really helped me concentrate 😊. I also feel like such a Skip Beat dunce as I had never read the chapter about the sheep pillow before last night since there was a long period of time (year or two) when I wasn't reading Skip Beat and so I missed a lot. I picked it up again for a few chapters when I thought she had discovered his identity in Guam but then realized that it didn't lead anywhere and so stopped again for another couple of years. Anyway, I read it last night and it's so cute I _had_ to mention it here 😊

 **Chapter Three – Traumatic or Very Traumatic**

Kuu looked over to the blond man in the hospital bed. He had come as soon as he had heard of the accident and what he had seen worried him more than when Boss had first told him. Kuon was strapped down into the bed and Kuu didn't know why, his head was covered diagonally with a lot of bandages, he was strapped up to multiple machines and had a breathing device on providing his oxygen. Along the side of his torso was a large scar that might cause problems with his modelling work.

Lory hadn't told him this. It looked as if he might have gone rock climbing.

Julie felt the tears in her eyes as she stood awestruck just staring forward at the man in the bed. This was her son who she hadn't seen in years and he was here looking just like himself, unlike the photographs she had gathered from magazines. His skin looked softer, paler, when he had his blond hair like this and he looked so young and innocent.

Thankfully, public perception helped a lot in protecting his identity. They wouldn't have the same thoughts about the god of the younger generation of actors with this foreigner in the bed. Julie grabbed the blanket around him and tucked him in whilst Kuu noticed the weak breaths. Was his son never supposed to return to America? Would he always be plagued by this?

"So, Hizuri-san, Kuon has been in -"

"His prognosis," Kuu said as Julie started straightening the sheets and the gown that Kuon was wearing, she tried to organize the wires attached to his body and Kuu nodded, turning his attention back to the doctor. "Thank you for keeping this confidential. I really do appreciate it," he said with a grave look. "His diagnosis? Prognosis? What are we…"

"Your son has a traumatic brain injury," the doctor commented as he looked over at Kuon and then down at his clipboard. "He's been unconscious for nearly twenty-one hours, whether he wakes up in the next twenty seven hours will determine whether he has a traumatic brain injury or a very traumatic brain injury. We're doing all that we can, I promise you. He is Ren Tsuruga after all."

"No, he's not Ren Tsuruga, he's not using that name any more," Kuu said as he moved towards his wife and son, "When he looks like this, it's a conscious decision to be Kuon Hizuri, our son. Is there any further medical treatment that he needs at this moment, any information you can give to us on his brain injury?" he asked and the doctor shook his head.

"We just have to hope that he wakes up. I'll give you some time and check on you soon," he said as he dropped down into a bow before leaving. Kuu sat down on the seat to the left of Kuon. He had done all that had been asked of him, he had been working meticulously to be able to reach Hollywood from Tokyo, he had sacrificed so much already and it had been taken from him.

"Doesn't he look gorgeous?" Julie asked with a smile as she gently brushed his hair back. "I knew that he was always so handsome but he really has gotten even more handsome, even more gorgeous, even more beautiful," she said as she heard his shallow breaths.

"He's a fighter. He works hard, Jules. It's a matter of when he wakes up not if, he's going to pull through," he said and Julie nodded as she tried to brush away her tears.

"Yes, he is, because he's our Kuon," she said as she took his hand and sat down to the right of him. "You just sleep, baby" she said as she brought his hand to her lips. "Darling, you just rest. Mommy will take care of everything," she told him as she gently massaged his hand. "We can take care of everything, you just focus on recovering."

…

…

Julie looked at her watch again as she jumped up from the chair and started to pace the rooms, it seemed that during the past five hours she and Kuu had been pacing continuously. She felt so restless with her baby just lying in the bed whilst hooked up to so many machines. She knew that Kuon had another twenty-two hours before things got really dangerous for him but the sooner he woke up, the faster that he would heal.

"Maybe he has something in this bag that would help him," Julie gestured to the bags that he had been bringing on his flight. Kuu looked at her, heavy bags under his eyes.

"Julie, for the last time, I don't think that just digging through all of Kuon's stuff is going to make any of us feel better," Kuu turned to Kuon again, he was still breathing, the heart monitor was still recording his pulse rate. Kuu gently smoothed back Kuon's hair, being extremely careful around him. He froze as he saw Julie give out a squeal of joy.

"You remember this article right, right?" she asked him as she pulled out a soft sheep from his carryon bag. Julie's smile faded as she looked at her son in the bed, he wasn't responding to any of this. She sighed before going to sit next to him again. "This must have been given to him by a woman that he's attracted to. Men often don't have things like this without there being a woman involved. I wonder how long ago he ended things with her, if she knows that he's here."

Kuu sighed, he bowed his head and closed his eyes. Did it matter? Kuon still might not wake up and this woman, the relationship might have ended a while ago but that confused him as to why his son would still have it unless it was something that Kyoko had given him. Kuu looked at the sheep and stood, he put a hand on Julie's back before walking out of the room, "Please call me if anything happens?" he asked and Julie nodded.

Kuu tried to steady his breath as he stood outside the room. Should she know? Apparently she was somewhat involved in the accident but then again, he didn't know how involved she was or whether it was best to leave Kuon's condition as vague. None of them knew how this would work out. He tried to dial the number but stopped himself. Food. He just needed to get some food.

Kuon would be the one to tell Kyoko about his condition, he was the only one who knew what Kyoko should be made aware of. Kuu sighed as he dragged his fingers through his hair again. This wasn't supposed to happen. This was not supposed to have happened.

His son was supposed to be at home where they were having some kind of meal together. They hadn't had a meal together for over six years, they hadn't celebrated the holiday season together for six years.

The doctor had said that if Kuon were not to wake up within these next twenty or so hours that the damage would be irreparable and that he might be disabled for life. Of course, that wasn't something that either he or Julie would turn him away for but he didn't deserve that. He deserved to play Arthur Curry on the new CW show. He deserved to be recognized for his acting. Kuu tried to stop himself from showing any pain but it was difficult.

He took another deep breath in and returned to the room. The president would tell Kyoko whatever she needed to know. He was about to open the door before it was flung into his face and he immediately took a step back to see an excited Julie. His eyes widened as he saw the emerald eyes of his son in the bed. Kuon had woken up.

"Kuu, he just…he just woke up," Julie announced as she pulled her husband towards the bed. "Oh my god, Darling," she said as she turned back to her son, "Are you okay? You've been out of it for hours, I'm so glad that you're awake."

Kuon looked at her before cringing, he tried to lift his arm and put it over his eyes.

Julie turned to him, what was he doing? Was he trying not to see them? Maybe it would be better if she told him about the security. Kuu walked over to him knowing that he would find it hard to communicate. He had the breathing apparatus on because of a bruised lung or at least that's what the doctor had said. He was still shielding himself.

"Julie, I'm going to get the doctor," he said before looking at the light. The doctor had said something about light and sound being bad for a head injury. He reached across for the dimmer and turned it down lower but not so low that they had trouble seeing each other. As he had turned the light down, he saw Kuon move his arm and look at them confused.

In Kuon's mind though there was only one question and strangely enough he didn't understand it, he didn't remember much about the past thirty-six hours but he wanted to ask if Kyoko was okay.

…..

…..

Kyoko stared out her window as she returned back to the Daruma ya after her acting role. Soon she would have enough money to have paid off half of her debts, as she moved up in the acting arena she would be able to rent an apartment and have some space for herself. She had noticed some bruising from when she had fallen onto the pavement. That didn't make her feel very good when she considered what Kuon was going through.

Kuon had been hit by a delivery van and thrown onto the next lane of traffic where he was fortunately not run over but the blood concerned her. A human body wasn't supposed to lose that much blood.

Then there was the biggest question, how did she feel about all of this? Not only had he told her that he was Kuon Hizuri, not only had she discovered that Corn and Ren were both disguises for Kuon, he had told her that he loved her. He had told her that he loved _only_ her and she had been pushing him away for months because she was scared of him just playing with her. She could have listened to him before this happened. He would have told her that he was leaving, wouldn't he?

She had trouble being mad at him because, even though he could have done it much sooner, he must have been trying to talk to her for a while and she had pushed him away.

She only was able to look at these bruises because of Kuon, if he hadn't saved her and risked everything then she wouldn't be here. She just hoped that she wouldn't hear that he had passed away. Kyoko looked out of her window, two days ago she had last spoken with him, two days ago she had seen his body, limp like a dead animal's on the road.

Her phone rang and Kyoko looked at it to see a disclosed number. She picked it up nervously. She didn't want to deal with this today. She closed her eyes before hearing heavy breathing on the other side. Was this some kind of a prank or stalker? She was about to turn the phone off when she heard a familiar voice.

"Please don't….hh-ang up," she heard and her eyes widened. He was calling her? He wasn't done with her. "Mog-gg-ami-san pl….don't h—ang up…I ww-w-nne-eed to know…..yoyou're o-kkay."

Kyoko's eyes widened, he was calling her, he was actually calling her. His voice sounded broken as if he was struggling to talk to her, but he was awake, he was alive. "Yes," she said as tears filled her eyes as she realized how relieved he sounded in his breathing. "Yes, I'm okay."

 **End of Chapter Three**

 **Thank you for reading, reviews are appreciated**

 **Thank you to the reviewers of Chapter Two**

Erza, H-Nala, Kaname671, kikoune, paulagato

 **AN2:** Lory is trying to present the needed information to both parties but he didn't want for Kuu and Julie to worry during the plane ride, he wanted them to have hope until they reached Japan at least. Whether she visits him or chases him is yet to be seen, he barely remembers why he's in the hospital but his heart is connected to hers and he wants to make sure she's okay.


	4. Chapter 4 - Distractions

**AN:** You know, as an author, I really hate being told that I'm ooc because character is completely subjective to people. Whereas some of my characters might be a little off, I actually pride myself in my characterizations whether other people wish to see it or not. I think most importantly of all, to be a writer you have to respect yourself and you have to show respect to others as well. So, thanks for the support, even if you don't like my characterization, I really do and you're free to read/not read to your enjoyment.

Also, I don't look down on fanfiction. I've written original stories and it definitely is harder to write fanfiction well than to write your own characters and that is because of characterization, so please don't look down on fanfiction, after all, 50 Shades started as Twilight fanfiction.

 **End of Author Note**

 **Chapter Four – Distractions**

Kyoko smiled as she looked at the wall of her room above the Daruma-ya store. He had called her and asked if she was all right. She should be the one trying to focus on whether he was okay. She bit her lip as she looked over to the picture on the wall that she had of him. "How are you?" she asked nervously, "Are you feeling o—"

"I dd-d-on't…re-re-re…arugh,"

Kyoko froze as she heard that and she stood up out of instinct, "Tsu—Re—Co—Are you okay?" she asked him not sure what to call him. She was worried for him though, him ending on that pained groan made cold chills shoot down her spine. "Corn?" she asked desperately, "Are you okay, Tsuruga-sa-"

The call dropped and Kyoko paled a little as she looked at the phone. A pained moan and then the phoneline went dead, that didn't seem very positive a response. She sighed as she walked over and knelt in front of the picture of Ren. She was such an idiot not to have realized. She was even more of an idiot not to see the clues that he loved her as well. All of this time, she had been building a wall around her and now she thought about how he must have been feeling to be rejected so much and to still keep trying.

Her body froze and her brain started screaming as she realized that it was Corn who was being made to feel all that pain. Corn, the person who had given her guidance as a child, who had given her feelings of self-worth and had played with her, listened to her, comforted her when she cried. He didn't tell her who he was and maybe that was a betrayal but she hadn't told him about Bo. His lie was worse but he did have his reasons to do so, Corn was always very special to her and Ren was someone who she didn't feel she could touch.

Then her mind went back to how he had lost consciousness and just lay limply in the street and she thought that he could possibly be dead. Corn had died trying to save her, those were her thoughts. She sighed before going over to the stone and cupping it in her hands. She gazed down at it and held it to the light.

Kyoko flinched as she thought about how Beagle had said that Corn had either been driven mad by his emotions or he was no longer of that world. Did that mean that Kuon had gone through such terrible things with his sole motivator being his dream of acting outside his dad's shadow. Had she completely destroyed his dream, _Corn's_ dream?

She wanted to see him because she could just see how small his body could look, how defenseless he could look, the blond hair and how gorgeous he really was. She didn't want to think of what she had done to him. If she hadn't gone after him he would be in America working towards his dream and not wherever he was right now working towards staying alive.

Kyoko looked at her phone before seeing a text from Maria talking about how they were going to make their party better than the previous year. Maybe something like this, something that would take her mind off of Kuon, off of Ren would be able to help her. She hadn't decided how she would want to proceed with him anyway. Maybe the president was right in giving him space.

…

…..

Kuu had been very hesitant to allow Kuon the use of the cell phone after what the doctors had said but he was desperate to ask Kyoko if she was okay despite not really remembering the accident. Right now, it felt like the wrong call and Kuu had to grab the phone to pull it away from Kuon to hang it up. It had started okay despite the difficulty that Kuon was having with speaking but something about the sound or the technology had pushed Kuon into a seizure. The doctors said this was common with head injuries but Kuu still had to see his son in such a state.

He was sleeping again now but just seeing his body take control of him was difficult to accept.

The last words before he fell into the seizure were, I don't really, what did that mean? Was it that he didn't really want for her to come? He didn't really know what happened with the accident? He didn't really…what?

"The doctors must have some medication to stop that," Julie said as she tried to dab away at her tears. She looked up at Kuu before hearing Kuon struggling to breathe again. She immediately turned her full concentration back to her son, "Kuu, can you get a doctor?" she requested before placing a hand on Kuon's side. "Come on darling, be strong, we know how strong you've already been. We're here now, you're not alone anymore but you still need to fight to recover."

Julie felt her heart ripping as she saw the pain that Kuon was already going through. It felt selfish to expect so much of him after the accident but she couldn't do much more than to watch over him so that she could get the medical professionals when they were needed. Another thing that worried her was that he was having breathing problems because of his bruised lung but at the same time he was having seizures due to the head injury. He needed help and she needed for someone to be able to help him.

As the doctors came back to the room, they managed to fit the respirator back into position and turn Kuon onto his back. Julie looked at Kuon as his breaths steadied but his eyes remained closed, she gazed back at the doctors after this. "He's going to get better, isn't he?" she asked.

"A long recovery period but yes, he's going to live, I can give him a ninety-five percent chance that without any infection building within his body or any blood loss that we're not aware of, he's going to survive," the doctor said and Julie's heart pinched. Blood loss? Infection? Weren't those two things that could easily appear without notice.

"Is there anything that we can get for him? Anything that might help in his recovery period?" Kuu asked as he walked back over to Kuon and started to straighten his clothes, the bedsheets, anything that he could get his hands on.

"There are some medicines that I strongly recommend he takes, he needs to stay hydrated which can be difficult after a blood transfusion, and he needs to stay warm. If his body heat drops too low then that can create issues," the doctor told him.

He saw Kuon look up at them and Kuu placed a comforting hand on Kuon's arm. "You can go back to sleep," he told him gently, "You need your rest."

"Darling, please don't try too hard," Julie pleaded, "You take all the time you need. We're in no hurry. Remember that the tortoise took it steady and slow and that's how he beat the hare in the race?" she asked him. He nodded as he stayed with the respirator mask on. He must have done something really stupid to get himself in such a condition but he could remember her face and his fear that she wouldn't survive. He could remember how he had begged that she would be safe and that he could save her. He remembered those feelings but he couldn't remember those feelings in context.

Hopefully his acting dreams wouldn't have failed. Hopefully this headache that he was having would go away and the ringing in his ears would stop and his eyes wouldn't feel so sore. Hopefully he could speak like he used to and the pain wouldn't continue to be so overwhelming. Hopefully this confusion was caused by the drugs that were going into his body. There were a lot of things that he was hoping for.

…

…

Maria sighed as she sat opposite Kyoko the next morning, "Sis," she said as she sighed heavily, "You're not thinking about this party at all, something is bothering you. I know that it's annoying that Ren left and can't come to the party but he at least gave you something before he left, right?" she asked and Kyoko stared at her before dropping her head and shaking it.

"He didn't give me anything," she replied honestly and Maria hummed.

"He might still send it from overseas. Ren told me that it's always been a dream of his to move to America and work as an actor there. At least Father works in America and I can go visit him but Father works in San Francisco which is far away from Los Angeles and Hollywood," Maria smiled as she thought about how hard he must be working across the ocean.

Kyoko paled as she looked at Maria. Did she not know about the accident? Was it wrong for her to keep it a secret because surely the president would have told her what was going on. It seemed they were keeping the information sealed away for a reason. She nodded before leaning closer. "What do you want to happen most this year, Maria-chan?" she asked and Maria grinned to her.

"Daddy's going to be at the party the whole time, he promised that and so I'll get to see him. That makes everything better but Daddy wants to pay respect to Mommy as well and I'm a little…I'm scared to do that because Mommy must hate me for -"

Kyoko hugged the younger girl, "I don't think that your mother will hate you," she told her. "How about we focus on how we could help prepare you to see your mother," Kyoko stroked back Maria's hair. "It will be fun."

"But isn't there something that you're worried about, Sis?" she asked innocently and Kyoko froze. She didn't want to break the secret if they were doing so much to keep Ren's condition, Kuon's condition confidential. He must be okay because he placed a phone call with her. She could take her mind off of him for right now, couldn't she?

"No, it's okay, there's just someone that I know who is in the hospital and I still feel a little sore myself. This person saved me and -" she started but Maria interrupted her.

"Well then we can go and see them together, they'll probably enjoy a hospital visit and you can feel better when you see that they are okay," she said determined but Kyoko shook her head. She didn't want to admit it but she was scared of seeing him, scared what she might say, scared to see Corn in such a position.

"I think I need some more time before I see them," she told Maria who blinked at her confused.

"Don't you want to see your friend?" she asked before pausing, looking at Kyoko in dread, "It's not Kanae-san, is it?" she asked as her eyes widened and Kyoko shook her head. "Are you sure that you don't want to see them?" she asked and Kyoko looked down.

"I want to see them Maria-chan, I want to make sure that they are okay but it's hard, I can't bring myself to see him like that," she said and Maria nodded.

"You know what Ren said to me before he left?" she asked and Kyoko shook her head, "He was honest to me. He told me that he wanted to leave quickly because there was a girl that he was attracted to and wanted to be her boyfriend but she kept turning him down and ignoring him and he couldn't deal with the heartache any longer."

"He told you that?" Kyoko asked feeling a little nervous, did he also tell Maria that the girl he was talking about was her?

"He did but he didn't tell me who the idiot was who turned him down," Maria said bitterly and Kyoko nodded slowly. Did she even have the right to visit him in the hospital?

 **End of Chapter Four**

 **Thank you for reading, reviews are appreciated**

 **Thank you for the reviews to Chapter Three**

Erza, Guest, Kaname671, Kia, kikoune, Paulagato

 **Author Note 2:**

Again, I'm proud of my characterizations (especially since a lot of my work is future set) but if you don't want to read it then don't read it, just please don't come to my fic and insult me on it. That being said, this fic does focus on a Kuon-Kyoko relationship but I don't want to rush it. Kyoko's definitely going to have to fight for herself and fight for Kuon too. Kuon's going to have to recover before he does much of anything but he _is_ going to recover. Anyway, thank you for all the support. I do truly appreciate it.


	5. Chapter 5 - Am I Obligated?

**AN:** I'll admit that I cried when writing the end part to this chapter, just wanted to warn you guys 😊 Thank you for choosing to read.

 **Chapter Five – Am I Obligated?**

Kuon sighed as he continued to use the respirator, every time he opened his eyes he could see how tired and worried his parents were and he hated that. If this had happened a week earlier or a month earlier when he was Ren Tsuruga then they wouldn't have needed to come all this way and be so concerned. His mother especially seemed to be burdened by all of –ugh

Why did his head start spinning when he started thinking more? He had heard the doctor say that it was injured and that was what was creating all the buzzing and spinning and the headache and the ringing in his ears but how could he just stop thinking? He was an actor and actors were supposed to analyze different situations so they could use it in their work. He also felt fatigued, he had never felt so exhausted in his life and yet his mind wouldn't rest.

He tried to close his eyes again but felt cold in the bed. He tried to pull the sheets around him tighter but it was an unnatural cold, it was like ice creating a prickly sensation and as if he had slept on an ice pack. His chest hurt and he felt it was harder to breathe. This didn't feel normal. This felt like something had gone wrong.

Kuon nervously reached for his mother but found himself too weak to reach her, this was bad. He had never felt so lost before, so incapable of doing what he needed for himself. He couldn't reach her and his father was sitting further away. Was he going to die?

Kuon awkwardly removed the breathing mask and once he had uncovered his mouth he felt sharp stabbing pain but he had to tell her no matter what the burden was. "Mm-omm," he choked nervously, his voice sounding weak as if all the air had been drained out of it. He coughed. "Mm-omm," he tried to reach over to her but she was asleep and as much as he needed to wake her he couldn't. He felt his breath tighten in his chest and so put the device on again.

He shivered before his mind went black, he was going to die, wasn't he? He was going to die because he was too weak to help himself. Everything around him went black.

…..

…..

Kuu had felt that he had heard some kind of noise and he glanced up drowsily before his eyes widened and he saw that Kuon was enduring another seizure but this one seemed worse than before. He reached out for the call button for the doctors before removing the breathing device in case Kuon needed to throw up. He followed the instructions that the doctors had given him but one thing was sure, Kuon was getting weaker.

Kuu looked at Julie as she gasped and put her hand over her mouth as the doctors came in. Kuu took a step back as they let him take care of Kuon. He stared at his son. He wasn't doing well at all. It didn't even seem like his health was stabilizing. He saw Julie nervously try to peek through the doctors. "Is he okay?" Kuu asked.

"We have to take him into surgery," one of the doctors said and Kuu turned completely pale. Had he heard them correctly? "There might be some water leakage in his lungs or there might be another difficulty he's having, we're going to have to take him to the imaging lab and then probably prep for surgery."

Kuu froze as he heard that. Was it that bad? Was his son even able to survive this?

"Is there anything that I can do?" he asked desperately, "blood, organs, anything that I can donate, cost isn't a limitation so if there's some kind of new technology." Kuu knew he sounded desperate, he knew that his hair was a mess, he knew the pain was showing up in his face but nothing…

"Just try to get some rest," the doctor advised him as the team started to move Kuon out of the room whilst keeping him hooked to the equipment. Kuu stared at him horrified. "We'll do all we can, Hizuri-san."

Kuu nodded slowly before walking back to Julie and wrapping her up in his arms. "He's going to be okay, you know how strong he is and how hard he works, he's going to be okay," he told her though he definitely wasn't sure if that was the case.

…

….

Kyoko paused as she paced back and forth down the LME hallway. She had been going to her acting roles herself and filling in for Yashiro who had seemed to disappear after Kuon had been hit. She felt that the two things were joined but she hadn't seen him any made sure he was okay. Wouldn't it be best to make sure that her own manager was okay, the manager she had inherited from Tsuruga Ren before she went to visit Kuon at the hospital. He only said he needed to make sure that she was okay, he hadn't said anything about her needing to come and visit him.

That meant that she was safe, right? She was only respecting his wishes by not coming to see him, plus she had a new role to consider and this one wasn't a villain role, it was a leading lady, a role she had been hoping for. Kyoko paused as she saw someone looking at her with crossed arms and her smile filled her face, "Moookooo" she yelled happily as she saw her. "How are you, it's been such a long time since we've seen one another," she ran towards her but was stopped by Kanae putting her hand up.

"Yeah, it's been a while," she said and Kyoko paused, her sales woman face coming out. "What's wrong with you? I heard some rumors that you have an exciting new role so what's up? Is this about Ren's leaving the agency?"

"No, it's not about Tsuruga-san," Kyoko laughed as she put a hand to the back of her head, "No. I'm just wondering whether you have to go see someone in the hospital if you know that they are sick. I'm not sure what the rules are about doing that."

"So, someone you know is in the hospital?" Kanae asked and Kyoko nodded, "I guess it's up to you, it's not as if you're obligated to go see them, right?"

Kyoko paused, turning her attention to the ground, "I'm not quite sure what you mean by that,"

"I mean, it's not going to ruin your career or your networking if you don't go see them. See, if it's a director who you feel comfortable seeing or a family member then you probably want to do that because if it's, you know, your mother, it might strengthen your relationship in the end," Kanae said thought she was scared to approach the subject of Kyoko's mother. Kyoko kept her head bowed and she shook it.

"My mother is fine to the best of my knowledge, it's not her," she said and Kanae hummed.

"Then do you think that your acting career will be harmed by you not making a visit. I mean, acting is all about making connections and building networks. Do you think that by you going in you might lose out on a future role or even damage a connection? Do you think that some leech actress is going to come in and suck out this director's blood leaving you nothing?" Kanae asked with a straight face and Kyoko shook her head. "Then it doesn't matter, right? If you don't want to go then don't go."

"Well, it's to someone that lied to me," Kyoko hesitated, "but I mean, they've been injured and so it would be best to make sure that their injuries are healing."

Kanae's jaw dropped and she shook her head, Kyoko always got upset or overly determined when she were to say Sho Fuwa's name so she should probably stop herself from mentioning him by name. She didn't know of anyone else that Kyoko could be talking about but their might be other people in her life that Kanae didn't know about.

"Then don't go. If this person lied to you then they obviously don't care about you. I mean, a true friend would be honest, right? I mean, you'd come visit me in the hospital, wouldn't you?" Kanae asked and Kyoko nodded quickly, giving her friend a playful salute.

"Of course," she said with her eyes sparkling, "Moko, our friendship means everything to me so are you sure that it's okay if I don't go to see them?" she asked and Kanae shrugged.

"Serves them right if you don't go to see them, they didn't help you by lying to you so you don't need to go out of your way to do anything for them, especially since it won't hurt your career if you don't go to see them, so let's talk about something a little less depressing," Kanae said as she tossed her hair over her shoulder. Kyoko nodded.

"Then I won't go, thank you for the advice Moko-chan," she smiled although there was that gnawing feeling in her gut that she should at least try to clear the air with him. He _had_ been respectful enough to call her and to find out if she was okay but Moko had good advice, she didn't owe it to him and she didn't have to see him. He'd be fine anyway.

…

…

"Shuuhei?" Lory asked as he saw the visitor sitting outside of his room that evening. He hadn't expected this and he definitely hadn't expected seeing this man so exhausted. Kuu didn't even look up at him when he said his name. Lory moved closer to him and saw that he was holding a hand made paperweight of a bird, his eyes cloudy because of the tears. "What is that?" Lory asked as he sat beside his old friend and Kuu blinked forwards at the item.

"Can you believe that Kuon made this for me when he was only three years old?" Kuu said as he looked at the bird, the beak was a little fatter on one side than the other but it was cute, the type of thing that a little kid would make for their parent. "It's of a bird that I showed him when we went camping for the first time, he had this little book of pictures that you checked off when you saw the bird, he was too young to understand most of it but he got the idea, it was cute," Kuu said as his body shook, a tear sliding down his cheek.

"Kuon loved going out into nature and seeing all the different animals and he asked Julie if she could help him make this. She helped him and got it glazed for him to give it to me. He was so excited that when he gave it to me, he almost dropped it and you should have seen his face, he was so cute and nervous and so happy when it didn't break," Kuu's entire body shook and Lory took the bird from him, seeing the man start to shake.

"I thought the doctors thought that he'd be okay, that he'd be out of the hospital in a week or so," he said as he carefully placed the item in Kuu's hand. Kuu had brought this item all the way from America with him.

"They did," Kuu said slowly as he started to shake, "Yeah, they did say that but then he woke up and we all thought that it was good that he was waking up, I mean it was progress, ri-right? The doctors didn't know how damaged his lungs were or that he was going to have seizures because of the head injury. They think he might even have picked up some kind of infection and they are working on it but they want to keep him in isolation and I….should I have tried harder when he was younger. Was it right to send him here?"

"You know how he was, Shuuhei, he's been improving over these last six years," Lory tried to tell him and Kuu bowed his head.

"How can I keep lying to Julie?" Kuu asked and Lory hummed, he tilted his head and was about to speak before seeing that Kuu's skin was pale, his body stiffer, and his eyes had a haunted look about them. "I keep telling her that I know Kuon's going to survive but what if he doesn't, what if he never comes home, what if all we have left of him are our memories?" he asked as he messed up his hair.

"I can't do anything for him, Boss" he said as his entire composure crumpled and he looked like a man buried under his worries. "What if I can't take him home? What if I'm not even able to talk to him or hold him again? I don't know what to do."

"Why don't you come into my office, have something to eat, we'll talk about this," Lory tried to comfort the actor and Kuu shook his head.

"I don't think I could ever eat again," he said as he stared at the little bird paper weight. It felt as if his world was ending.

 **End of Chapter Five**

 **Thank you for reading, reviews are appreciated**

 **Thank you reviewers of Chapter Four**

Ashenvale, Erza, Guest, H-Nala, Kaname671, Kia, paulagato

 **AN 2:**

Thank you so much for all of the support 😊 I would say more in response but I am literally still crying from the end of this chapter


	6. Chapter 6 - Julie

**AN:** Thank you for all the support. I thought I'd update tonight instead of tomorrow. I'm actually feeling that when I next have free time working on "The Little Prince", there were just some things in here that made me think of that fic.

 **Chapter Six - Julie**

It was now December 23rd and Kuon had been in the hospital for three days. Fortunately the doctors said that he was getting better now that he was in isolation but the situation was so bad that he had to be in isolation to start that recovery process. This wasn't what Julie had been hoping for at all and she almost felt that it was stolen from her. However, she had heard from 'the kidnapper' and when she had asked more about the girl he had been ready to give his life for, she had seen similarities between herself and Kyoko. She wanted to get the story from her.

Fortunately, she was well-known among the acting community. Yes, to the general public she was less recognizable than her husband but to those in the industry, she had met them at events and this certain director she had known since he was a young boy. Director Hiroaki Date, son of Hirotaka Date, the famous Tsukigomori / Dark Moon directors.

Julie had gone to a little place in Tokyo that she liked to visit but hadn't been to for seven years, fortunately it still existed. They made cute little drinks that looked like they could be served at a princess castle. She tried to dry her eyes as she saw people looking over to her. Hopefully she wasn't pulling attention away from filming.

"Is there anything that I can get for you, Hizuri-san?" Hiroaki asked with a weak smile and Julie shook her head.

"I'm doing okay but thank you for asking, it's sweet of you. If you could just let Mogami Kyoko know when she arrives," she said gratefully as she tried to hide the pained expression on her face. Her baby boy was struggling to survive and Julie wanted to know more about this girl despite her husband wanting to keep her at a distance.

Julie had always wanted to sneak onto set when her son was filming a scene, she had wanted to see his acting skills first hand and prove how much she loved him and supported him. If there was a way that she could still do it, she was begging for that. She wanted him to be happy, that's all that a mother could ask for.

She just wanted to be with her son and see him living his dreams. Why was she unable to do that?

…

…

As Kyoko headed into work she felt her guilt rise in her chest, maybe she should have made time to see him, maybe she could have just dropped off a card or something at the hospital and seen him, said she hoped he felt better. Tomorrow was the party but if she wasn't sure how Kuon was then she didn't feel much like celebrating. She walked onto set only to be told by a stage hand that there was someone waiting for her. She paused before seeing the woman who looked as if she had walked off of a fashion magazine. This was the beautiful rich woman that she had wanted to play.

Kyoko walked over to her to see the mournful way she was looking out at the set. This seemed to be a difficult person to approach, a foreign woman. She saw that her eyes were like broken glass with those same beautiful emerald eyes. Was this…Kuon's mother?

"Hello, I'm Mogami Kyoko," Kyoko said as she dropped down into a bow and Julie lifted her head before standing up and formally dropping into a bow too.

"Hizuri Julienna," she introduced herself and Kyoko had a half smile. "I'm sorry for inviting myself here unannounced," Julie said as she tried to keep her pain hidden despite how hard it was. "Here, I bought you a drink, it's from this bakery that my husband's taken me to a few times. I'm, I'm glad that it's still o-open," she said as she quickly turned to hide her tears.

Kyoko looked at the drink with a small smile on her face, "Thank you, that's so kind of you, are you really sure that -"

"It's okay," Julie cut her off, "Please accept it. I'm sorry. I came here under very selfish circumstances, I feel a little bit manipulative but I might soon not have a reason to come back to Japan so I would appreciate meeting with you before you film," she said and Kyoko smiled which made Julie blink in surprise.

"So, you know who is finally leaving," Kyoko looked down, "It makes me sad to think that he's not going to be acting in Japan but he'll be in a better place," she said as she smiled calmly and Julie blinked hard. She was fluent in Japanese because of Kuu but was this girl smiling because her son might die? A better place?

"Kuon is in isolation right now," she said bluntly and Kyoko looked at her confused. "I imagine from seeing the accident that you can understand his injuries were severe. He's had to have a lot of blood put into his body, fortunately a friend of his donated some of that blood, but he's had surgery twice and he's suffering from a bruised lung, multiple cuts, bruises, and fractures, as well as a traumatic brain injury that has led to a number of seizures already. He's hooked up to various machines including a respirator and my husband and I are worried that we might lose him. I'm sorry to be harsh but it's nothing to smile about."

Kyoko paused nervously, her whole body turning white and she looked as if she had been told that she was just about to die because of a maliciously placed bomb. All of this was new to her, the president hadn't described that his injuries were so bad.

"Is that why Yashiro-san hasn't been able to be my manager?" she asked and Julie looked at her horrified.

"My son saved your life, he gave his own life so that you could live. I know that Yashiro Yukihito is important to both of you and my husband and I are forever grateful for him making the sacrifice of giving his own blood but could you please think about Kuon right now," Julie ran her hand through her long hair and felt a few knots in it. She usually took great care of her hair but these past three days had been hellish.

"You're really Kuon's mother?" Kyoko asked and Julie looked at her in shock.

"Yes, but whether I am or not isn't the important fact here. I am beyond proud that I get to be Kuon's mother but it's Kuon who is struggling in the hospital and I would hate for your mother to have to see you like that. I wanted to meet you for so long but the fact that you're not even concerned about Kuon," Julie tried to control herself but she started sobbing which greatly alerted Kyoko. "I only have one child who I had to give up for six years because of how hurt he was, how much pain he suffered because I didn't notice. My son might die in only a matter of hours, I thought meeting you would help me but…I have to go back to the hospital because even if I can only watch him get weaker through glass, I will be there for him now that he needs me."

Julie grabbed her bag, tears streaming down her face but she managed to keep composure in her body. She turned and took another breath in before walking over to Hiroaki and explaining that she had to leave as someone in her family was in the hospital. Kyoko looked after her.

Taking a deep breath in, Kyoko moved over to her. Her heart breaking for the small family.

"Hizuri-san?" she asked nervously, her voice desperate. "Is it really that bad? Is he…may I see him? Can you take me to see him?"

"I…don't you have to work," Julie said and Kyoko looked over at Hiroaki, there was no way he'd understand without them explaining who Kuon was and his tie to Ren. She bowed her head before Julie grabbed her by the shoulder, leading her gently to the director. "Hiroaki-kun?" she asked softly, "May I speak to you?"

"Yeah, yes of course," Hiroaki said quickly before he led the two of them to an isolated area. "Kyoko-chan, you're joining us in this conversation?" he asked and Julie looked at him.

"May I steal Kyoko-chan away from the set for today, it's for an important reason and I am asking for complete secrecy on this meeting and what is involved even from my husband," she told him and Hiroaki blinked at them. "The man in the hospital who I'm visiting is my son who needs to be cared for."

"Your son?" Hiroaki asked, "is in Japan?"

"He's been going under another name for six years, he's very famous and a lot of people only know him by his stage name," Julie said and saw the director looking at her. "It is top secret information so please, please respect it but my son Kuon has been acting in this country by using the name Tsuruga Ren," she paused as she saw Hiroaki grab the table, his entire face turning pale but he managed to keep his concentration on her. "I am asking that she visit him. I'm sure that she can return to work afterwards."

"Tsuruga is…your son?" Hiroaki asked slowly but saw how honest Julie was being about this whole thing. "Yes," he nodded shakily, "Yes, go. I won't tell anybody and in exchange maybe you could give Tsuruga-san my best and tell him I'm hoping his hospitalization isn't too bad," he said but as he looked at the two women he felt he was asking too much.

"Thank you," Julie said painfully as she dropped down into another bow, Kyoko following her lead.

….

…

As Julie returned to the hospital with Kyoko following behind her, she saw Kuu sitting down on a bench outside the hospital room that Kuon was in and she rushed over to him, throwing her arms around him as Kyoko nervously walked in behind her. "How is he?" she sobbed as she felt Kuu shiver, "He's okay? He's still with us," Julie pulled herself away from her husband and walked over to the window where she could see that half of Kuon's hair had been shaved off. "They cut his hair? I…the bandage, I thought the…"

"They had to reapply the bandage when you were gone but his head injury," Kuu said slowly, "it's gruesome, Jules," he told her honestly. "They said he's getting better but his head. I didn't know what was under those bandages and I'm glad that you didn't have to see it," he said and Julie studied her little boy.

"But he's getting better, right?" she asked with a weak smile, "That's good, right? That gives us hope at least."

"They said it was a miracle that he wasn't already dead," Kuu told her and Julie's jaw dropped. She felt something beside her and saw that Kyoko had a hand up to the window as she looked hollow and empty as if a china doll about to shatter to pieces. She could see the tears flowing down the girl's face.

"I'm so sorry," she whispered as Kuu finally noticed that she was there with them, "I'm so sorry, Corn," she whispered again. "I should have come sooner, I should have come as soon as I knew where you were, I am so sorry," she said before putting a hand around her waist trying to stop the heavy sobs that she was letting out.

"I love you, Kuon," she whispered hoping that she would get a chance to tell him those words and make sure that he knew how she felt about him. "I really do love you."

 **End of Chapter Six**

 **Thank you for reading, reviews are appreciated**

 **Thank you reviewers of Chapter Five**

H-Nala, Kaname671, ktoll9, paulagato

 **AN2:**

Well fortunately someone got through to Kyoko but I wonder how many people thought it would be Julie. Kyoko definitely regrets not seeing him before this time.


	7. Chapter 7 - Birthday at Midnight

**AN:** Couldn't help but to write another chapter but I have an eight hour shift tomorrow so I probably can't write then. Maybe I'll create a stash of these and update one a day 😊 Anyway, I just hope you keep on enjoying them.

 **Chapter Seven – Birthday at Midnight**

"Kuu, darling," Julie said as she squeezed Kuu's upper arm to wake him up. The two had been taking shifts so that they could make sure that Kuon was okay and Kuu was three hours into his sleep. He blinked his eyes open before looking to see Kuon's doctor standing next to Julie. He immediately sat up straighter.

"Is everything okay? Kuon, is Kuon okay?" he panicked before seeing that there was a black bag in the area where Kuon was. He froze nervously, his heart seeming to shatter. No. No no no no no no no. His son, he couldn't be dead! He could not be dead! He wasn't in that body bag, no…

"It's not him," Julie said as she saw his fear, "It's just a bag, Kuu. He's not dead. They said that he gets to be out of isolation since his lungs are recovering but…" she bowed her head and Kuu looked around. Where had they taken his son!? He tried to steady his breathing before hearing the doctor speak.

"Hizuri-san, Kuon has been moved back to a private hospital room but I do need to discuss something with the two of you regarding his treatment. Kuon's injuries are quite severe and quite extensive and we feel it's best to place him in a medically induced coma until his head and lungs are both a bit better. Both of them require oxygen especially with use. Hopefully it would only need to be for a few days to a week that he is kept in that state."

Kuu stared at the doctor wishing that he was hearing this after having a bit more sleep. "The seizures?" he asked, "If Kuon is in a coma then…what happens if he has a seizure?"

"We're hoping that by doing this, the number of seizures will reduce significantly when he's taken out of the coma. Although there doesn't seem to be any memory loss or any loss of speech or disability, there is the risk that these things will come if he continues to use his cognitive abilities, we're suggesting that he is placed under this coma so that he will be able to heal," the doctor told them and Kuu looked down nervously. That didn't sound good at all.

Kuu looked over at Julie who took his hand and squeezed it, he turned back to the doctor, "What do you need from us?" he asked and the doctor nodded.

"Just for you to fill out some forms as his legal guardians, policy states that unless the two of you agree we won't be able to do anything," he said and Kuu nodded shakily.

"Okay," he said sounding so lifeless and vulnerable, "Okay, we can do that."

"As long as it gives my baby some more time," Julie whispered as she looked down. "Happy Christmas Eve, Kuu."

They followed the doctor to the private room and Kuu walked over to his son. He started to straighten the hospital gown again and placed a hand on his neck, his thumb resting on his throat so he could feel Kuon's pulse. Kuu gently pushed some of Kuon's hair back and was surprised to see a pair of half-open emerald eyes watching him. Kuon was awake?

"Kuon," he whispered as he gazed upon his son. He couldn't believe that Kuon was awake again. "Hey, it's good to see you awake," he whispered but tears started to roll down his cheeks as he saw his little boy just gazing up at him. Kuon reached up with difficulty to the respirator mask but Kuu gently guided his hand away. "You need that, don't take it off, okay?"

Kuon nodded slowly as Julie tried to hide her relief that they could interact again. Kuon nervously reached for his dad's hand and held to two of his fingers which brought flashbacks of Kuon's delivery to Kuu's mind.

"I'm here," he whispered as he placed a hand on Kuon's chest whilst the other was held by his hand. "We're right here. We're not going anywhere."

"We'll monitor him over the next few hours, see if we should choose a new course of action or not but it's incredible that he's awake and responding to stimuli," the doctor said and Kuu nodded before seeing Kuon cringe from the light. He was about to speak but the doctor dimmed the room again.

"Hi, baby" Julie sobbed as she went to Kuon's side as well. "Try not to think just try to keep fighting, okay? Please continue being your strong self and fight, we'll take care of everything else. You just continue fighting."

Julie saw a nurse adjust the amount from the IV that Kuon was getting into his body, hopefully this would allow him to relax if just a little more than usual.

…..

…..

Why had she come here? Why had she decided to come and "enjoy" a party after seeing the kind of state that Kuon was in. It all seemed so needlessly frivolous and Kyoko wished she could enjoy it more for Maria but he had looked so alone in that room, so injured and damaged. She had always believed him to be strong and skillful and she had witnessed that when he was Cain Heel but she hadn't seen him in such a dangerous situation before. The doctors had told the Hizuris that he could die that night or that his condition wouldn't get better. The president had told her that it was grim. Julie had told her the horrifying injuries. This wasn't a normal situation and he needed people to support him.

So, if that was the case, what was she doing here?

She looked up at the clock, in ten minutes she would be eighteen and that was an acceptable age to date a twenty-one year old, right? Well, if she was allowed to date him, if he recovered, if he forgave her. She wanted to be with him instead of around everyone else. It felt like he was the only one who mattered.

Kyoko made her way over to Maria who was dancing with her father and smiled, leaning close to the birthday girl. "Maria, I am so sorry but I have to leave. I really apologize," she said as she dropped down into a very formal bow. "Please forgive me."

Maria turned to her father who was watching Kyoko curiously. Her face turned into one of shock and alarm as she looked at her big sister. "It's your party next," she argued, "people are expecting that you stay. I think Grandfather has a cake for you, just stay ten minutes?" she begged and Kyoko closed her eyes.

"I am so sorry, Maria" she said as she tried to hold back the tears, "The man that I love is in the hospital and if this is the very last birthday that I get to spend with him, I'd really like to be with him as soon as possible. He saved my life."

"There's somebody that you love?" Maria asked and Kyoko nodded nervously. "The person in the hospital?" she continued and Kyoko nodded her head again. "Then he probably wants to spend your birthday with you as well so you should go."

"Thank you for understanding, Maria-chan," Kyoko said before rushing to get her bag and then running out of the event. She felt that she was disappointing everyone but she wanted to see him. She wanted to wish him a Merry Christmas, apologize until he forgave her and tell him that she loved him. Fortunately, she was able to wave down a taxi that would take her to the hospital.

…

….

Kyoko was glad when she was told that she was going to be met by Julie at the waiting room of the hospital. She felt a little bit silly in such a fancy dress like this one but it didn't matter because soon she would be able to see him and gaze upon him and if she was lucky, she might even be able to touch him. It felt like a lifetime ago that she had hugged him but it was really only four days. She just really hoped that he would forgive her.

"He's doing a little better but you have to go easy on him," Julie told her. "If his brain gets overloaded, it could trigger something. Kuu and I are trying to keep notes on what causes anything similar to a seizure or that could lead to a seizure."

"It's okay for me to see him though?" Kyoko asked as she looked down hoping Julie wouldn't change her mind. "I mean, it's okay for me to be in the room with him, that isn't a trigger…is it?"

"I think he wants to see you," Julie replied and Kyoko nodded nervously. As she entered the room, she saw Kuu holding onto Kuon's hand as they were discussing what restaurants they should visit in Los Angeles when he came back. It was when Kyoko came into the room that Kuon shifted in the bed, his eyes widening a little. "Easy, easy," Kuu said as Kuon nodded and tried to breathe with the respirator. "Happy Birthday," he told Kyoko as he looked around at her.

Kyoko smiled and nodded gratefully before coming closer to Kuon, she slipped a hand down on the bed next to him and then dropped down onto her knees next to him. "Hi, Corn," she whispered as she put her forehead to the bed, trying not to cry as he stared at her. "I'm so sorry, I'm sorry. I don't know if you want me to call you Ren or Tsuruga-san or Kuon or Hizuri-san or Corn but…but I'm going to go with Corn and I'm sorry that I tried to push you away, that all of this happened because I do love you," she said before looking up to see that he was surprised that she said that. He reached for the respirator mask but Kuu took his hand preventing him from pulling it off.

"The doctor said that you need to keep it on," he said hating that he was treating his grown up son as if he were a little kid.

"If the doctor said that then please keep it on," Kyoko whispered before she felt her tears in her eyes. She reached out and touched his cheek, kissing him on the side where he didn't have his head injury. "I really do love you, I've loved you for such a long time…the Katsuki acting test was when I realized I had feelings for you and then…then those feelings grew and I was scared and…no, keep it simple," she told herself before feeling Kuon weakly put his hand on her cheek, tucking a few hairs behind her ear.

"I really do love you, Kuon," she told him and he blinked at her. "No matter what name you want me to call you and…and I forgive you for lying to me, I think I understand why you did it but it doesn't matter anymore as long as you're alive." She laughed a little as she felt Kuon run his weak fingers through her hair. "It's okay that you don't say anything now just please fight for everyone who loves you, please?"

Kuon nodded slightly before holding her hand. He just gazed at her, taking in how beautiful she was and rejoicing in the fact that she was here with him, that she wanted _him_. That was all that he had wanted from her.

 **End of Chapter Seven**

 **Thank you for reading, reviews are appreciated**

 **Thank you reviewers of Chapter Six**

Ashenvale, Erza, H-Nala, Kaname671, Kikoune, ktoll9

 **AN2**

I'm so glad people are enjoying the story and are so supportive of it. I think Kyoko is starting to figure things out and this fic really is more about taking it slowly and using raw emotion 😊 But Kuon has made some progress so he just has to gradually recover from this.


	8. Chapter 8 - Does Kuon Have a Girlfriend?

**AN:** In a few chapters, I may have to have a time jump because I'm finding that I'm getting a little blocked on what to write for the current situation. I still hope that you're enjoying it.

 **Chapter Eight – Does Kuon Have a Girlfriend?**

Kyoko stood at the side of the hospital room three days later. She had felt it hard to apologize to everyone for her disappearance but at least Hiroaki was giving her leniency despite his own concern over Kuon's condition. Kyoko had just finished work and she was watching the small family.

"Have you sanitized your hands?" Julie asked as she looked up at her and Kyoko nodded. Not only had she washed her hands but she had done a full body scrub before coming here. She didn't want to risk Kuon getting an illness or an infection.

"Of course," she nodded, "How is he?" she asked as she saw him sleeping again. The previous day he had beat his record and had only slept for eighteen hours which meant he was awake for six. The biggest effect of the brain injury was the seizures but this was followed by his confusion and his fatigue. Fortunately there didn't seem to be any new disabilities but he still needed to rest and recover.

"He's been asleep for about eight hours this time but he did have a six hour nap earlier with only two hours in between," Julie told her and Kyoko nodded. That meant that he had had fourteen hours of sleep, a bit more than the day before, this was more like when he was having his twenty hours.

"I've never thought that he could sleep that much," Kyoko said honestly before walking over to him, she pulled out a chair and sat looking at him. She felt a little strange just being here with him. They hadn't discussed their relationship and she wasn't sure she was ready to be his girlfriend but she did have the urge to touch him. He just looked so adorable with his now shorter and half shaved blond hair and his hand resting on the sheep pillow she had given him.

"The doctor said it was good for him to be sleeping so much," Julie said as she watched the two of them. Kuu had gone to sort out some things in the hotel room they had booked and Julie was giving him updates on Kuon every half hour.

Kyoko nodded and heard a slight noise from the bed, she looked upon Kuon as he half opened his emerald eyes looking exhausted. He flinched as he put a hand to his forehead and pressed his head into the bed again.

"Hi, baby" Julie said as she stood and walked over to him, she placed her hand on his shoulder. "Another headache?" she asked and he nodded. Kyoko gently let her hand run through his hair and his breaths started to even out. "You just have to get used to them, darling," Julie told him as he nodded again.

"I'm here," Kyoko whispered as she pressed a hand to his back and saw him reach out to take her hand in his. It was difficult for her to see him in such pain but at least he was getting better. It would be an uphill battle but at least he was awake for a number of hours each day. "Kuon, I'm here," she told him as she blushed being able to say his real name. It would have been a little harder for her to see Ren have such difficulty.

"Th-th-thankk y-yo-ouu" Kuon said shakily as he tried to take a few more deep breaths, having gotten used to not relying on the respirator all the time.

"Do you remember anything about the accident?" Kyoko said as she feared he had suddenly remembered that his current condition was all her fault, he shook his head and Kyoko relaxed slightly. She didn't want to tell him that he was only in this condition because she had been stupid and he had put his own life at risk to help her. "I'm sure it will come back."

Kyoko let her fingers spread over his back but she pulled back when he started to move, rolling over onto his back and looking at her in the eyes. He had dark black bags around his eyes which the doctor had said was common with head conditions. He seemed so exhausted. He flinched again and Kyoko reached for the dimmer switch. She got up, seeing him watching her, and she drew the curtains to the windows in the room.

"Does that help?" she asked as he nodded. Kyoko paused before looking at the floor, she didn't know whether what she was going to say would matter but she thought it had been a good idea. "I…I managed to get New Years off so I can spend it with you in the hospital, if that's okay?" she asked Kuon who nodded but looked concerned about something.

"I mm-ayy….nno—stay…awwawa—" he tried to tell her, he could speak better if his head didn't feel as if it was trapped in a furnace.

"I'd still like to spend it with you," Kyoko told him.

Julie smiled as she heard someone at the door and she turned to see the man she expected, she walked over to him and placed her hands on his shoulders, kissing his cheek. "How did it go?" she asked him and Kuu smiled, nodding as Julie wrapped her arms around him in a hug, she looked back at Kyoko before pausing. "Kyoko-chan, there's something I'd like to talk to you about if that's okay."

Kyoko turned to her before nodding, she kissed Kuon's cheek before leaving with his mother.

Outside the hospital room, Julie led Kyoko away from the room and to a nearby bench. "I don't think his plans have changed despite his injuries," she tried to inform the eighteen-year-old. "I'm sorry but Kuu and I are going to be taking Kuon to America as soon as he's ready to go. I know that you feel that you just started this rela-"

"There's still long-distance," Kyoko said as she looked at the blonde, "Hopefully I'll be able to talk to him about it before you leave but I've been single for a while now. I don't _need_ a man to be satisfied and I'd rather be with him in a long-distance relationship than with another man that I find here.

Julie watched her, "You knew that -"

"His dream is to act in America and unless something happens that makes it so that he physically can't, he's still going to work towards his dream. I know how determined he is because I'm the same way. I don't want to take his dream away but…I knew him as a child, as strange as that sounds. I met him when I was young and in Kyoto, I thought his name was Corn and I was stunned at his hair and eye color. I think I've always secretly loved him even if I wasn't able to recognize it. I support him and I know that he's the man I'm destined to love. Coincidences don't work like that, fate does. I can't take his dream away from him but I can't keep myself from being in love with him either."

Kyoko smiled as she laced her fingers together and stared at her nails. He had saved her life, he was her prince. She wondered if Sho would have made that sacrifice for her.

"If something happens and he gets worse?" Julie asked, "If something worse happens to his brain?"

"It doesn't stop me from loving him, I'm not that shallow of a person. I'm worried about him but I've figured out that I care about him enough to love him no matter what. I know that he has to leave but I want to spend as much time with him as possible."

Julie nodded slowly, she smiled softly as she laughed a little. "I'm really grateful to hear that," she commented and then turned to Kyoko, "Thank you, Kyoko-chan," she told her, "Thank you for loving my son."

…

…

It felt satisfying to her to be able to sit with him when he was awake and Kyoko wanted to try to do that every day if only just for half an hour. The bruises on her own body were healing and she was feeling confident that she could come back but it honestly worried her that soon Kuon might be returning to the US and want nothing to do with her.

As she was walking down the hallway of LME, she heard a couple of women talking about how they had rumors about Ren not returning to the agency and how Ren wasn't working in Japan but they hadn't heard anything about what he was doing or whether he was on a trip. Knowing that she shouldn't eavesdrop but with her curiosity taking control of her, Kyoko took a few steps over to where the two girls were.

"Do you think something happened?" one of the girls, a singer said and the actress looked down.

"I don't know, Emiko, we…we were…I was hoping that we could work together. I only entered the entertainment industry to get closer to him and now it's like he's hiding. I don't know why he would just leave without saying anything," she sobbed and the other girl, Emiko, shook her head.

"He must have said something to _somebody_ , what about his manager, maybe he has information?" Emiko asked and put a hand on the other woman's back, "Kaorin, even if we don't get to meet him, we can still admire his work."

"But…but I wanted to be held in his arms," Kaorin sniffed.

"What about his girlfriend?" Emiko asked, "Do you think that his girlfriend knows what's going on. I'd love to be Ren's girlfriend, then he'll only notice me and it'll…"

"Tsuruga-san doesn't have a girlfriend," Kyoko said as she took a step towards them and the two women stared at each other. One of them was about to tell Kyoko not to butt into a private situation but the other put her hand other her mouth. "I mean, Tsuruga-san doesn't have a girlfriend. He's my sempai so I should know. I know that I shouldn't have been eavesdropping but you should be careful what you say about Tsuruga-san, he's one of the top performers if not _the_ top performer at this agency."

Emiko looked at her and tilted her head to the side, "Aren't you his friend?" she asked and Kyoko looked away uncomfortably, "You're not upset that he's not here which means that you know something."

"Anything I know is confidential and so I'm not going to be sharing that knowledge," Kyoko told them as she felt nervous. People were telling her that Ren didn't have a girlfriend, that Ren had left and honestly, maybe she had jumped the gun and Kuon didn't have a girlfriend. He hadn't agreed to anything which made her wonder if she had just expected too much from him. He was having trouble speaking and moving around even, yes, she was pressuring her too much.

"Kyoko," Yashiro said as he walked over to her, "Shall we leave?" he asked and Kyoko nodded as she started to feel stupid that she was starting to think that her relationship with Ren had developed just by finding out who he was. As she and Yashiro got out of earshot, Kyoko looked at him.

"Yashiro-san, does you know who have a girlfriend?" she asked and Yashiro's jaw dropped.

"Aren't you the one who is supposed to be telling me that?" he asked.

 **End of Chapter Eight**

 **Thank you for reading, reviews are appreciated**

 **Thank you to reviewers of Chapter Seven**

Ashenvale, Erza, Guest, H-Nala, Kaname671, Kia, kikoune

 **AN2:**

Hope that you guys enjoyed the confession but Kuon isn't going to really be able to be a good boyfriend just yet, he's too badly injured. He won't be going into a coma but he is going to be…well exhausted is an understatement. Thank you for the support.


	9. Chapter 9 - Reasons to be Selfish

**AN:** I've been meaning to write this for a while but I've been so sleepy recently so thanks for your patience. I really do want to write every day so I'll write this one as frequently as I can.

 **Chapter Nine – Reasons to be Selfish**

Kyoko nervously sat outside Kuon's hospital room with her hands in her lap. There were so many variables still floating around. She didn't feel that she had the right to affect any single one of them. First of all, there was the fact that she wasn't sure whether Kuon considered her his girlfriend or did she consider him her boyfriend? She would secretly like to use that term for him but if he was just going to leave anyway then maybe this wasn't a good thing. Then there was the fact that Kuon hadn't really been awake long enough to consider such things and during those times when he _was_ awake, his head had been hurting him so he couldn't give her an answer.

Was it too much pressure for him to be in a relationship and was she harming him if she asked him those questions? She sighed as she tried to come to terms with her feelings but whilst she sat there, she saw her 'father' coming out of the room.

"Kyoko?" Kuu asked and then came to sit opposite her. "I didn't know you were here. I was about to get some more ice but Julie's in the room and he's asleep again so I can talk with you if you would like," he said and Kyoko nodded as she took a quick look back at the room again.

"I'm sorry, Father," she said nervously and he looked at her with a raised eyebrow, "I'm thinking of something that's probably very selfish and very self-involved."

"I think we all are," Kuu said and Kyoko nodded. They probably weren't thinking of the same thing that she was and she doubted that they were thinking of something selfish at all. Kuu and Julie were such good people and such caring parents. They probably had Kuon's best interests at heart, she didn't know if she shared that with them. "Did you want to tell me?" Kuu attempted to prompt her and Kyoko nodded.

"Does Kuon have a girlfriend?" she asked and Kuu sighed.

"To my knowledge, no," he replied and then pushed a hand through his hair. "Kyoko, I'm really not the person to ask about this. I know that Kuon likes you, I've heard that from the president but I haven't been in my son's life for many years now. He might have had a girlfriend that nobody knows about, I doubt it, but I don't know, all I can say is that I don't think he does."

"Are you saying that he could have one?" Kyoko asked and Kuu shrugged his shoulders.

"I'm just trying to start learning my son again and it's going to take some time. I know that he loves you though so if he were the boyfriend of anyone, wouldn't it be you?" he asked and Kyoko opened her mouth. She felt guilty for pulling Kuu into it. Though Kuu had more of a connection with Kuon because of biology, she had spent more of the recent past with him, much more. Still, maybe it was a question that she could only ask to him.

"You said that he's sleeping?" Kyoko asked and Kuu nodded. "I might go see him in that case," she said and Kuu smiled gently.

"Okay, I'm going to get him some more cold water for when he wakes up," he told her and Kyoko nervously stood up and approached the hospital room's door. She opened it and went to sit down on one of the chairs a little farther from the hospital bed than where Julie was.

…

…

 _Kyoko froze as she looked at the area towards the front of LME. People were actually gossiping about who was sitting on the bench by the entrance and there were people who had their cell phones up as well. What was he doing here? She had been trying to avoid him for a few weeks now but it seemed as if he couldn't get the message that she didn't want to talk with him._

 _If she could just continue to ignore him then maybe he would get the message and leave her alone. She would have once upon a time adored a fairytale romance with her prince but he had someone else that he loved and he was just being a player by trying to keep her interested just so that he could play around with her._

 _She saw a bouquet of flowers on his lap, one of those expensive bouquets. Shouldn't he be giving those to the girl that he loved, wouldn't she get angry if he tried to give them to her. Kyoko froze as she saw him stand up from the bench once he saw her and she felt a chill go up her spine. He had seen her and she didn't have much time to make her get away._

 _She froze as she dropped down into a respectful bow, her hands clenched. "Tsuruga-san," she said, "how have you been?" she said though she wanted to get away from him._

" _I haven't been able to get in touch with you, Mogami-san, there's something that I'd like to talk to you about concerning the end of the year," Ren told her and Kyoko shook her head._

" _If you can't make it to the thankful party then it's really okay. It's for all of our loved ones and so there will be other people making up for your absence," she told him as he looked at her stunned, glad that Yashiro wasn't standing at his side and making comments about this._

" _No, it's….it's…that's good," he said nervously as he tried to hand her the flowers but she didn't take them. "There's something that I've been wanting to tell you, Mogami-san," he said with a guilty look in his eyes and Kyoko shook her head._

" _It's fine, a senior actor like yourself doesn't need to explain himself to someone who is still new in the indu-" Kyoko told him and Ren took a deep breath in._

" _It's about Guam, I'd like to talk to you about something that happened in Guam, something that may not be forgivable," he told her bluntly and Kyoko looked around. The Heel siblings? Something happened when they were doing the filming with Setsuka and Cain Heel? She paused before shaking her head, she didn't want to hear him say anything that made her feel a want to believe in love._

" _Don't worry about that, I don't need to hear it. Anyway I'm late," Kyoko said quickly as she took a look at her phone and ran away, leaving Ren holding the bouquet completely speechless._

…

…

Kyoko hadn't been able to talk to him yet. She had wanted to ask him but it was selfish to ask him all of this when he was so injured. Kyoko looked at the machines that he was hooked to and she touched the bruise on her body as she started to remember the flash of shadow that was Kuon when he got her out of safety. She could see it in slow motion as his body got hit and then thrown and how she had seen the blood as he lay in a position that would kill most people.

She was being so selfish here and she hated that. She didn't own him, she had given him such a hard time but he had continued to support her and yes, he had pursued her but he had given her space. If she had told him that she didn't want anything to do with him then he would have given her that space, she had been leading him on for months and doing all of that for her own benefit.

She felt so cold and undeserving now. She was here because she wanted to be with him but she had tried hurting him before so why did her voice matter? She was about to leave before she felt his fingers link with hers. He smiled up at her with an exhausted expression and smiled.

"H—Hhi," he whispered as he took the mask off and Kyoko immediately sat down, helping him place the mask beside him. She gently let her fingers run over his head and he watched her. She had done so much wrong to him and she had felt so betrayed and thought about herself and now he might not even have his wings anymore.

"Evening," Kyoko smiled, "You've been asleep again. How are you feeling?" she asked.

"I mi—mig—B-b-boss" he struggled and Kyoko put a hand on his back, she stretched out her hand on his back trying to comfort him. She didn't know what he was trying to say but it was something with the president. She bit her lip before cupping his cheek.

"Do you think the mask might help?" she asked as she held the respirator device and Kuon shook his head. "Did you want to see the president?" she asked and he nodded but she saw him shiver as he did so. "Kuon, can I ask you a question?" she asked as she got down on her knees and he turned to look her eye to eye. He was still so weak, still fighting such a hard battle. Of course he was, anybody else would have been roadkill.

"Do you have a girlfriend?" Kyoko asked and Kuon looked at her as if she had just asked him if he believed in ghosts or aliens. He put a hand to his forehead before starting to shake. He closed his eyes and tried to control his breathing.

"Kuon!?" Kyoko yelled as she tried to look around for the button to call for the nurse. This was her fault, she hadn't been thinking about his head and she had wanted to know for her own purposes. She felt a few tears in her eyes but he reached for her.

"I wwan—tt….your…boyff-fr-riend," he said before losing consciousness and Kyoko watched him as he started to shake slightly, it was more like twitching than a full seizure but she shouldn't have done that to him. She could have waited. Why didn't she wait?

"Yes," she said sadly as she saw Julie rush in, "Yes, I'd like you to be my boyfriend too," she said and Julie looked at her, she put a hand to Kuon's back and rubbed it gently before shaking her head to Kyoko.

"It's not you," she said, "I argued with him today," she said and Kyoko blinked confused. Hadn't he been asleep for most of the day? What kind of argument could Julie have with an asleep Kuon?

"What happened?" Kyoko asked, suddenly feeling that it wasn't her place to ask. She wasn't a member of their family and she had just heard that Kuon wanted to be her boyfriend. Kyoko felt relief when Kuon was able to be brought back to a stable condition.

"He wants to stay here for some reason," Julie said, "and I want him to come back home so I can take care of him. He can heal when he's back home."

Kyoko nodded slowly and her eyes landed on Kuon again. There were a lot of complications with him staying in Tokyo so why would he want to. "Did he tell you why he wants to heal here?" she asked and Julie looked at her before nodding.

"Yes. It's because of you."

 **End of Chapter Nine**

 **Thank you for reading, reviews are appreciated**

 **Thank you to reviewers of Chapter Eight**

Erza, Guest, H-Nala, Kaname671, paulagato

 **AN2:**

I'm so glad that you guys are supporting this. I hope you liked the interactions in this chapter as well 😊


	10. Chapter 10 - Sacrifices

**AN:** I hope you enjoy this chapter. The decision made in it will be fully covered the next chapter 😊

 **Chapter Ten - Sacrifices**

Kyoko stared at the American actress and model in shock as she said those words. She felt really selfish now. He had been set to follow his dreams and live the life to which he had worked for and he was willing to give all of that up for her. She didn't know what to say about that and it scared her. On one hand, she wanted him here and she wanted to be with him and work out their problems together. On the other hand, was she ready to accept that big of a responsibility for him?

"He wants to stay here because of me?" Kyoko repeated and Julie sighed as she sat down.

"I thought it would be best for him to be at home with Kuu and I. He was going to come home anyway and there are medical plans, resources, that he could take advantage of. I was even thinking of cutting down considerably on my hours so that I could help him get better."

Kyoko looked at her and then closed her eyes. She had hurt him too much to truly accept that he was ready to get hurt again. She reached out and gently touched his cheek. He was Corn but he was also Kuon and he had made the decision to leave. She was the one who had run out into the middle of the road blinded by her tears. "What does he really want?" she asked and Julie sighed.

"I'm not sure anymore," she honestly told her. "I understand that your mind works differently when you're in love but he would really want to act. He had a great role lined up for him as well, one that he had earned through his acting. Now they are considering postponing production, I think that the actress they picked told them she was pregnant and they'd rather wait than recast the two main actors."

"He still has a chance at his role?" Kyoko asked, her voice showing a little excitement. "Then he should move to America so that he doesn't lose out on this role. I'm really going to miss him though," she said and Julie looked at her.

"I'm going to try to not take that as you rejecting my son," she commented and Kyoko stared at her confused, what part of what she had just said was a rejection? She believed she loved Kuon but she had always known how important it was for him to spread his wings and fly.

"I would never," Kyoko said honestly, "but I _do_ love him. I selfishly would want him to stay here but I don't want to be selfish. I would rather watch him succeed with his dreams. If he stays here then eventually people are going to know who he is. They are going to be able to respond to his relationship with Kuu-sama. I don't know if that's what he wants."

"He didn't use Kuu's influence to get this far in his acting career," Julie commented though it was something that Kyoko knew well.

Kyoko sighed as she put her hand on Kuon's shoulder. She didn't want to leave him and she didn't want him to leave her but that was selfish thinking and it wasn't the thinking that Kuon's girlfriend should be having. She looked back at the man in the bed and leaned down, kissing his forehead and turned to leave. It was as she was turning to leave that Kuon opened his eyes again and stared at her.

Kyoko wasn't able to see him watching her but she knew she had some hard decisions to make. Was she really so selfish as to stand between him and his dreams or was she going to have to let him go despite the pain that that caused her heart. She bowed her head and took a few strained breaths.

"I really do love you, Kuon."

…

…

Kyoko was trying to find herself somewhere peaceful to sit as she looked around. The year was coming to an end and once again there was so much that she had to be grateful for and so much that had happened since the previous year. Most noticeably it was how much she cared for Ren and Kuon and Corn and how they were all the same guy. Her heart had burst open for him despite how cautious she had been.

The ice cream wasn't working, it wasn't taking her mind off of him at all.

Many doctors had been surprised that he had managed to pull out of the initial coma and now was actually healing despite still being in a lot of pain. He might not be able to leave the hospital until the last couple of weeks of January but he was making great improvements. A lot of people who had injuries like his were either dead or severely disabled but he didn't seem to have any of that. It was mainly the sleepiness and confusion that was troubling them but he could have had those symptoms were it a minor head injury.

Kyoko sighed before actively trying to enjoy the ice cream in front of her. If she were to consume these extra calories then she should at least take pleasure in it. As she ate it though, she saw a hand that made a sharp hatred move through her body be placed on the counter in front of her. She frowned, only experiencing a slight fear and looked up at Beagle. Hadn't he gotten tired of chasing her by now?

"Hello, red riding hood," he told her and Kyoko rolled her eyes. "I know, it felt wrong as I was saying it but I've heard that you-know-who has finally left the country so I shouldn't be scared about running into him anymore."

"You mean Tsuruga Ren?" Kyoko asked as she stood, moving her bag onto her shoulder and taking the cup of ice cream with her. "I'm still in contact with him."

"It's a lot different with you being in contact with him compared to him actually being here to watch over you," Reino told her and Kyoko frowned at him, "If I make you angry enough maybe one of your little spirit friends will come out to play. I'd like to get my hands on another one of those."

Kyoko frowned, "He's still Tsuruga-san, he'd still protect me if I needed him to," she said and Reino shook his head.

"I doubt that," he said and Kyoko tried to steady her breathing, "I doubt that he'd be capable of protecting you from his current position. No, you have to protect yourself now. The lion has gone away and you're fresh for the picking," he said and Kyoko was about to shove him hard and physically attack him but the number two guy that she didn't want to see was approaching them.

"Hands off," Sho growled and Reino stared at him confused but then started laughing mockingly, "What the hell do you think you're doing, are you eating ice cream with him?" Sho pointed and Kyoko frowned between the two of them.

"What? Do you think that I'm that idiotic to eat ice cream with an undead beagle!?" she yelled, drawing some attention to the three of them and she could hear people gossiping. "Don't make me laugh. He's the stupid one who came to interrupt me."

"It's better than loving a psychotic murderer," Reino said, hissing a little between his teeth and Kyoko put the ice cream down. She was done with it anyway.

"You know nothing about him so don't you dare call him psychotic when you're the psycho yourself," Kyoko said with her anger strengthening. She glared at him before turning to her childhood friend. "And don't start on it. I pick Ren, I choose to be with Ren." Kyoko froze as those words sank into her own mind. "I choose to be with Ren," she repeated as if she finally understood what those words mean.

She nodded, having convinced herself of what to do and left without a word to either of them.

She would _choose_ to be with Kuon.

…

…

Kyoko looked up at the president from where she sat on the sofa opposite him. She felt a little vulnerable because of what she had just asked for and although it reminded her of how she had followed Shotaro to Tokyo, somehow this felt better and she really hoped that she wasn't just repeating her own mistakes.

"So," Lory said as he sat forward with his hands on his knees, "Could you repeat what you're asking for?"

Kyoko nodded, she bowed her head and then tried to steady her breathing. She had to take this slowly or she might start to talk herself out of it and that wasn't something that she wanted to do. She had to be foolish and risk taking a chance on love. Maybe she was a fool in her nature and was tripping over and being duped by the tricks that love brought with it but she wanted to at least try.

"I want to take a break from acting for one month starting from the end of January. I am prepared to finish the work that I'm doing and have agreed to but I want to take some time and support Kuon whilst he's in America. At the beginning of March, I will return here and begin acting again.

"Are you sure that you want to do this with your….opposition to love?" the president asked her and Kyoko dropped her head but nodded. She knew it was risky and maybe it was even risky asking him if he could try to understand but she had to at least try. He was a love monster after all.

"Maybe I'm not as opposed to love as I used to be," Kyoko admitted causing the president to grin. "I have to check with the HIzuris to make sure that it would be okay with me going over there but Kuon has dreams involving America and I want to make plans involving him."

"And your acting?" Lory asked and Kyoko sighed.

"I'm not giving up on acting," Kyoko told him honestly, "but I don't think that forcing Kuon to stay here would be good for his healing and I don't think that I have the skills to act in America. I've been thinking about it and I think that this decision is the right decision."

"You aren't worried about him leaving you or him tricking you?" Lory continued, wanting to make sure that Kyoko was thinking clearly. Lory really didn't believe that Kuon would want to hurt her, he wasn't like that and he had seen the love that the young man held towards the actress. He just didn't want her to go into this half-heartedly and then think that she had made a mistake and break Kuon's heart again. If anything, Lory was really motivated by his need to protect Kuon especially in his current condition.

"No," Kyoko told him with a smile, "I trust Kuon."

There was a knock on the door as she said this and Kyoko stood up, she bowed deeply. "I know that you have another appointment so thank you for giving me this time," she said and Lory smiled.

"You can turn in the leave of absence form to Yashiro," he told her and Kyoko smiled before leaving. As she went down in the elevator she pulled out her phone. She was itching to call Julie and tell her about her decision but hoped that it would be better dealt with in person. As scared as she was to keep admitting it, she did really love him.

 **End of Chapter Ten**

 **Thank you for reading, reviews are appreciated**

 **Thank you to reviewers of Chapter Nine**

H-Nala, Kaname671, kikoune

 **AN2:**

Yes, slowly they will be able to talk together and Kyoko really wants what is best for Kuon plus she knows she'd feel guilty if he stayed in Japan only for her. She hopes that by making the decision she does that she will be able to form a plan with Kuon for the future. I have planned a surprise though and it does involve a certain Xebel princess. I'm such a DC nerd, lol.


	11. Chapter 11 - A Trip Back Home

**AN:** Thank you for your patience with the update of this fic, I've been kind of busy. Hope you enjoy.

 **Chapter Eleven – A Trip Back Home**

Kyoko smiled as she stood opposite her 'father'. She had just told him her decision to move to the US on a very temporary basis so that she could try to stay by Kuon's side during his treatment. It was her fault that he was in this position anyway and so it just felt right to her that she should be there. Besides, they had just started a relationship and for their relationship to turn long distance this early might unsettle it a little. It was never a good idea to start with so much distance between them.

She had to admit that the memories were coming back to her. She had left a somewhat stable life in Kyoto for the chance to run away with her prince and become his bride. She had missed out on starting high school and had worked herself half to death for a guy who probably didn't give a crap about her. However, this was different. She had a plan to return. She wasn't putting all her faith and her future hopes in Kuon's hands.

She would only be going with him temporarily. She was just hoping that her father would feel the same way.

"Of course," Kuu smiled to her, "You're welcome to come. Thank you for understanding that him being at home might be the best thing for him. He still will have to pass some hospital tests to get clearance to fly but Boss has connections and they are willing to loan us a private jet and pilot in order to get him home. Are you sure that you _want_ to come?" he asked her. It wouldn't surprise him if Kyoko was doing this out of guilt but a motive like that might bring more pain to his son who had already suffered more than enough.

"As long as you and Julie-san are okay with it, then yes," Kyoko said before she looked away. She hoped that Kuon wouldn't take it too badly. She had already done enough damage to both his body and his heart.

"The doctors are going to do another extensive check up on him today," Kuu informed her and Kyoko nodded, looking nervously down the corridor. She didn't want to leave but was it okay for her to learn such personal information? "You're welcome to leave or to stay. They want to find out more about the seizures."

Kyoko nodded slowly. Ren had never had seizures, although he could have probably studied them enough to have a realistic one whilst in a scene, he hadn't had to cope with the seizures before. Those were a direct result from an accident that, in retrospect, he had ten times as much of a chance of living through than dying in. Thank god it had turned out this way.

"I'd like to see him after the tests," Kyoko admitted and then looked up at Kuu nervously, "Will you call me when I can come see him?" she asked and Kuu nodded, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"Of course," he said and Kyoko smiled before bowing, making an attempt to keep the tears out of her eyes.

"Thank you."

…

…

It was mid January, a time to celebrate the new year and new adventures and Kanae was staring at the bags that Kyoko had with her as she stepped out of the Daruma-ya building. Her mouth dropped open as she looked at the luggage, this was definitely enough for her to take with her for a month. Kanae froze. Was she really doing this? Was she really embarking on some kind of a trip and Kanae still didn't understand her motives. She had just come here to ask Kyoko a question and she had been given this type of shock.

"Where do you think you're going?" she asked and Kyoko looked up at her.

"Moko," she grinned happily, "You came to see me off."

"Yeah…" Kanae said slowly as she surveyed all of the luggage once again. She had heard that Kyoko was doing a job in America but she had thought that maybe it was a one-week trip or even a modelling shoot. Kanae had wanted to be the actress to represent Japan and though she had to admit that she was happy for her friend, she was also a little jealous of her success. "How long are you going for?" she asked and Kyoko paused as she put a hand on her heart.

"Moko," she said happily as she started to stare off into the sky. "This is amazing that you came to see me. I'll miss you too," she grinned before throwing her arms around Kanae. Kane held up a hand and started to push on Kyoko's chest, guiding her backwards.

"Mo," she said as she crossed her arms, "I thought that you were just going for some small job," she said and Kyoko paused before shaking her head with a soft laugh. Somehow they had been able to work together as a group to protect Kuon's identity and the president had even said that Ren had left the agency and was refusing contact with anyone which made the reporters a little too hungry for the information.

"It's a pretty important job," Kyoko said before bowing her head, "I just can't tell you because you'd make fun of me."

"Try me," Kanae challenged her with a raise of her eyebrow, "Nothing could be more ridiculous than dressing up as a chicken for a talk show."

Kyoko blushed. How could she explain that her main drive was to follow a guy across the globe so that they could be in a relationship. She shyly looked at Kanae and wondered how she would take it. The two of them were the original members of the Love Me unit, how could a fellow Love Me member understand the passion of following a guy to preserve a relationship.

"Umm," she said weakly, "Tsuruga-san left to go to America and so I'm following him there," she said and Kanae's jaw dropped open.

"You're going to make that same mistake again?" she asked and Kyoko sighed, she closed her eyes nervously. She didn't want to make her friend upset but it would be hard to explain how much she wanted this to work with him. If she had only listened to him before then maybe none of this would have happened and despite the guilt that she was feeling, she wanted to be with him. It was strange and weird and something she wanted to reject with her entire body but he was over there and she wanted to join him.

"Yes," Kyoko nodded, "Yes, I'm willing to take that risk. I know someone over there though. The actor that I took care of two years ago, Hizuri Kuu, he's letting me stay with him."

"All right." Kanae said, "Mo," she took a deep breath and looked away, "I should try to convince you not to be so idiotic but if it doesn't work out, remember that I warned you about this so don't come crying to me."

Kyoko shook her head, "I don't think I'll have to this time," she said honestly and Kanae rolled her eyes but nodded. Wouldn't the best kind of friend try to support this very reckless and dangerous move. If only love wasn't still such a chore for her. She didn't want to see Kyoko falling down a rabbit hole but the girl seemed convinced and she wanted to be the friend that Kyoko had always wanted her to be.

"You need a hand with any of the bags," she offered and Kyoko grinned with a giggle.

"Thank you, Moko-chan!" she grinned happily.

…

…..

Kyoko looked around the plane excitedly as she strapped herself in and turned to see Julie sitting with Kuon and smoothing his hair out. Kuon was supposed to be sitting alone so that he could stretch out. There were numerous medical items here for precaution and in an emergency and Kuon had already been put on a pain killer that was making him a little disoriented. Kyoko had to be excited though. She would be spending some time with the Hizuris and, as selfish as it was that she was happy about it, Kuon still didn't really remember the accident and doctors had reported that he may never do so.

She didn't have to worry about the relationship ending because she was responsible for his condition.

"Please, darling," Julie whispered as she touched his forehead once again. "If there's anything that your father or I can do for you or get you, if you feel any discomfort, then please let it be known." She kissed his forehead again before he laughed.

"Mom, you don't have to worry," he said sleepily and Kyoko was glad that he had his voice back despite the head injury. "I'm okay and Kyoko's here."

"I am here," Kyoko grinned, "I'll sit with you as soon as I'm able to, Corn," she assured him and Julie pulled the blanket around him again before going to sit with Kuu. She let her head rest against his chest as she looked out the window. Although she and Kuu had each returned home a number of times over the past three weeks, this time was special, this time she would be returning home with her little boy. She was bringing him back to where he belonged.

"Okay," the pilot said as he entered the cabin for the last time. "Let me point out where the safety exists are," he told them, "And since we will be flying up to a great height, the same rules as commercial planes are present. Now, Takarada-sama has tasked me with the mission of bringing you safely to America and that's what I will do. Any questions?" he asked and once he realized there were none, he went to the front of the plane.

Kuon looked over at Kyoko sleepily, "Are you excited?" he asked her and Kyoko nodded happily. "You'll be able to see the pool where the fairies live."

"It seems that pain killer is kicking in," Kuu whispered to Julie who turned to Kyoko. The younger actress looked like she had stars in her eyes and that she was being whisked away to a magical palace with just those words. She tried to hide her grin. Hopefully this relationship would work out and bringing Kyoko along with them was a good thing.

Well, at least she'd have her little boy in the house again.

"The pool?" Kyoko asked interested, she looked at Kuu who nodded with a smile across his face.

"There's a swimming pool at our home, Kuon used to love swimming there when he was a little boy," Kuu said as he smiled, at least he'd be able to touch his son again. This was what he had wanted for these six long years, a way for his family to come together again. "I mean, it may be a number of months before Kuon is cleared for swimming because of the seizures," Kuu continued but Kyoko was already grinning.

"I can't wait, I'm really excited to see where you grew up," Kyoko said with a soft giggle. "Is it a large house?"

"Yes," Julie smiled, "You could say that," she said despite the house being a lot bigger than Kyoko was thinking. American houses were often much larger than those in Japan but the Hizuris were actors and they lived in what could be described as a mansion.

 **End of Chapter Eleven**

 **Thank you for reading, reviews are appreciated**

 **Thank you to those who reviewed Chapter Ten**

Guest, H-Nala, Ivy401, Kaname671 PaulaGaTo


	12. Chapter 12 - Home Again

**AN: Thanks for your patience in the update of this fic. I need to differentiate the languages so I'll do that next chapter when Kuon and Kyoko explore more of LA**

 **Chapter Twelve – Home Again**

Kyoko had seen large houses before but she had never seen them in person and what the Hizuri residence was counted as a pretty large house. The house was gated off with a large iron gate that required a code for it to unlock and there was a large yard with many trees. It must have been amazing to grow up here. The house looked like it at least had three stories and so there must be multiple bedrooms. She was excited as she looked out the window but then she heard measured breaths beside her and turn to see Kuon wrestling in his mind with being there.

"Corn?" she asked and Kuu kept driving ahead, though his back had tensed and Kyoko suspected he was trying his hardest not to turn around to see how Kuon was doing. Julie grabbed Kuon's hand, he had had a similar panic when they had arrived at the airport. She hated how his return home was something hard for him to endure.

"We'll need to have your help sorting things out, your father and I were terrible at knowing what to keep and not so most of what you had is in boxes. She smiled at her son but he kept his head bowed and his eyes closed. He hadn't acted like this before.

"Is there anything that I can do?" Kyoko asked as Kuu unlocked the large garage for the car. He drove in sleekly and Kyoko noticed that there were more than two cars inside. She had expected for each Kuu and Julie to have one but it looked like they had five cars between them. Maybe one was used for special…no, no car was used for special events.

"Yes, maybe you could help Kuu in the kitchen. I've been told about your amazing cooking skills," Julie said, "and the snacks you prepared showed that to me as well." Kyoko nodded slowly. She could definitely cook for them but she was still worried about Kuon. He definitely wasn't doing so well.

Once they stopped, Kuu went to Kuon's side and helped his son out of the car. He managed to swing his son's arm over his shoulder wanting to give him more stability. Kuon pushed him away, dropping down next to a bucket and threw up with Kuu staring at him wide eyed. He rushed behind him and knelt down, massaging his back.

"Kuon," he said gently as he tried to soothe him, "It's okay. It's going to be okay."

"I have to get used to it," Kuon whispered, his body shaking. "It's just, my head," he tried to gesture and Kuu nodded. He patted Kuon's back again as Julie and Kyoko stood back watching the two men. Maybe it had been too early to move Kuon from Japan to America but he had wanted to go, he had planned on going before the New Year so he was a little delayed but that was okay.

"You two go into the house, get some tea started?" Kuu asked them before seeing how afraid Kuon was when he looked around. It was as if after the accident, his emotions had become a burden on him that he had trouble controlling. Kuu was anxious about how Kuon would be the remainder of the day and the next day but after that they had scheduled a doctors visit so that he could help with his treatment.

"Do you need the wheelchair?" Kuu asked thinking about the device that the doctors had suggested if Kuon was having difficulty. His son had been forced onto the road by a truck and so it was amazing that he could even walk a few feet before needing to stop and catch his breath. The one thing that Kuu was most worried about was his son's developed narcolepsy and seizures caused from the brain injury. He was scared that Kuon would put himself in the middle of a dangerous situation and then his brain would turn off sending him to sleep.

"I'll take the wheelchair," Kuon nodded though Kuu knew he hated having to rely on the chair. Kuu helped him sit down and then smiled as he placed his hand down on his son's shoulder and squeezed it. He wheeled him back to the house and saw the painful expression on Kuon's face as he looked around both taking in the new changes and surprised by how similar it was.

"You know the way around," he said and Kuon nodded. He looked at the elevator in the house, there weren't that many houses which had both an elevator and a staircase. Yeah, his parents liked living in luxury and that was one of the reasons that they had accidentally ignored their son when he needed help the most.

…

…

Julie sighed as she took down the tree by herself. She had been looking forward to having Kuon home with them so badly and had been planning on celebrating the holidays with him, now it seemed like there was another holiday season where they weren't able to celebrate at home and that is what she had wanted the most. She sighed as she took down the lights and then saw Kuu beside her, helping her collect them.

"I wanted to spend the holidays with him _here_ ," she had told Kuu and Kuu sighed.

"I know. I didn't want for the accident to happen either but if you think of things, the holidays come every year and now it's January, you have something to look forward to next month," he said and a smile stretched over Julie's face as she looked at him excitedly.

"That's right!" she said happily, "We can spend his birthday with him. We can celebrate all those missing birthdays too," she said and Kuu shook his head.

"I wouldn't worry about celebrating the ones that we weren't able to as long as we concentrate on an amazing birthday for him this year, one that really celebrates him. I'm sure he'll be happy to let you take charge on arranging something for him but just remember that he'll be turning twenty-two, he's not a kid or a teenage anymore."

"But he can drink," Julie said with a grin and Kuu nodded.

"Sure, he can drink, we can have alcohol at his party," he told her as Julie started thinking about things she could put together and ways that she could celebrate their son. Kyoko might not be in America then so maybe something large an extravagant although…those would more likely be people that she and Kuu knew than people that Kuon knew and that might remind him of when he was a kid and had started to feel ignored.

"I want to do something intimate, maybe just the three of us or we could invite relatives who want to see him," Julie mused and Kuu watched her with a grin on his face, at least she didn't seem to be upset any longer.

"You'll make him something good tonight, right? Or should we have takeout? This is his first night back and I want him to enjoy it. We have to make him something so delicious that he won't return to Japan. Oh and I get to hear his voice, he already called me Mom several times but half of those times were in Japanese." She paled with her eyes widening, "What if his brain is in Japanese, what if his English isn't as good as it used to be."

"Jules," Kuu sighed, "He hasn't just forgotten English and turned into someone who is completely Japanese. I've also heard him use Russian. He might slip up on a few phrases and slang terms but it's not as if the language he used for fifteen years has just fallen out of his head."

"What's fallen out of my head?" Kuon asked in his Californian accent and Julie smiled as she came towards him and hugged him. "You mean from the accident?"

"You sound like you used to," Julie grinned, "after all of your speaking in Japanese…"

"while we were _in_ Japan?" Kuon asked and Kuu grinned as well, he and his son sounded so much alike but Kuon had more of a laid back Californian accent, some might say that it bordered onto the stereotypical "surfer dude" accent but that was the area they had brought him up in. "Kyoko isn't used to hearing me like this, I wonder how she'll take my proper voice. She's heard the Ren voice too often that that's how she thinks I talk naturally."

"I love your voice," Julie told him and placed a hand on her heart before gently ruffling his hair affectionately. "She'll love it. You'll still have girls going faint when they hear you talking to them."

"I should be careful then," Kuon winked.

Kuu heard a noise from the kitchen and he went towards the area that it had come from. He saw Kyoko looking at the different spoons and cooking utensils. "I was thinking that we could go get some steak from a butcher I know," he told her and Kyoko nodded but she looked upset as she cast her eyes down to the ground.

"Father," Kyoko said weakly as she turned to look at Kuu. "I shouldn't be here, yes, being here makes Kuon happy but I'm scared that something might happen," she saw the confusion on Kuu's face and looked away. Her heart seemed to twist in her chest. "Kuon was only in the accident because of me," she told him and Kuu nodded.

"I feel as if you might have told me this," he said and Kyoko gulped.

"I mean that if I hadn't have chased after him he wouldn't have been caught off guard. I was the one who was supposed to be hit by the truck because I wasn't paying attention to logic. I wasn't aware of my surroundings and when I saw the impact and Kuon's limp body, I realized that he had saved me but that should have been me. I had been rejecting seeing him, not wanting to be near him and so I had blown him off so many times that he didn't want to give me a proper goodbye," she told Kuu who sighed. "If I had just listened to him one of the many times when I knew that he wanted to tell me something then we wouldn't be here right now. He'd have been okay. He wouldn't have been suffering."

"Well," Kuu shrugged, "He's healing. He might have some problems that he needs to overcome but he's healing so it doesn't really matter how it happened, as long as you're both alive then don't feel that you have anything to worry about. Kuon would have hated himself were you to have lost your life."

"I know that he feels that he carries around a debt to others but…" Kyoko shook her head, "I'm afraid that if I explain to him exactly how the accident happened, that I was angry at him and felt so betrayed by him and he ended up saving me regardless, he'll want nothing to do with me."

Kuu sighed, "I don't think you have anything to worry about," he said before seeing how frightened she was. "Just tell him honestly. Tell him that you regret what happened between the two of you and why you're hiding what happened from him. Sometimes people don't remember the accident because of an amnesia that they have but…sometimes they do," Kuu tried to warn her and Kyoko nodded.

"Time, Father," Kyoko said as she saw Kuu going to get his jacket, "All I need is time, the right time."

Kuu nodded before trying to smile, "You want to help me get the ingredients for dinner?" he asked and Kyoko gave a weak nod. "I don't think either Julie or myself blame you because Kuon is alive and he's healing. He's going to be okay. Even if he passed, I'd forgive you…"

"And Julie-san," Kyoko asked nervously.

"Let's just focus on the fact that Kuon's alive and that you are also alive," Kuu told her. She didn't need to know that because of how deeply and protectively she loved her son, had he passed away, Julie would have never forgiven her.

 **End of Chapter Twelve**

 **Thank you for reading, reviews are appreciated**

 **Thank you to the reviewers of Chapter Eleven**

Guest (x2), H-Nala, Kaname671, kikoune, paulagato

 **Author Response:**

Whilst it's just the two of them, Kyoko is going to wrestle with the thought of telling him the truth but she's afraid he won't forgive her for it being her fault. Thanks for the support


	13. Chapter 13 - The Unknown Fear

**Chapter Thirteen – That Unknown Fear**

Kuu could see the light on as he woke up in the middle of the night. He turned to Julie and saw her sound asleep meaning that it had to be one of his other two visitors. Kyoko was sleeping in the second floor guest room and Kuon was in his old room. Maybe it was jet lag keeping them awake. He yawned before turning to the side and attempted to return back to sleep but it proved fruitless. He paused before deciding to check out who was up and maybe get himself something to eat. Julie was used to his midnight snacks.

Getting up from the bed, Kuu wandered to the door and opened it quietly before following the light he had seen out the crack at the bottom of his bedroom door. He yawned before hearing quick breathing. Something was wrong. Something had gone wrong.

"Kyoko?" Kuu whispered before picking his pace up. Was Kyoko hurt or upset? He could understand the guilt that she was feeling but he wanted to help. It wasn't right to let a woman cry without offering a shoulder to cry on.

As he reached the living room though, he was surprised to see Kuon there instead. He was trembling and holding to his head. Kuu's eyes widened. It was another headache wasn't it? The nearest hospital was about a fifteen minute drive, probably ten at this time of the morning. He went over and knelt in front of Kuon.

"Hey, what is it? Is it your head?" he asked before seeing Kuon's eyes widen as he saw his dad kneeling in front of him. "Do you feel sick? Another seizure?"

"So-sorry," Kuon quickly apologized as he tried to control his breathing, "Pa-Panic att-tack." Kuu nodded before sitting down next to his son. Kuon had had panic attacks when he was fifteen and Rick had died. He could feel the pain his son was going through and there wasn't much difference between this time and that. Kuu rubbed his arm hoping that that would bring at least a little relief.

"Is there a reason? Bad dream?" Kuu asked and Kuon dropped his head, he took deep breaths before turning to his father. He shook his head and Kuu hummed. "Is it to do with the injury? Do you think that a checkup should be scheduled sooner than we planned."

Kuon turned to him before sighing, "I'm scared," he admitted and Kuu nodded. He could understand that. If he had been through what Kuon had then he would be scared as well. Kuon had been through so much more than was needed.

"What are you scared about?" he asked and Kuon laughed and shook his head, "Come on. I'm not Kyoko. You know I won't judge you. I love you, Kuon and I don't care if you think that's weak that I say that. I love you and no matter what is scaring you all I want to do is help."

"I know," Kuon nodded before looking at his father from the side, "Promise that you won't laugh?" he said nervously and Kuu put a hand on his chest.

"With all my heart," he nodded and Kuon looked at the floor again.

"I'm scared to go out and start acting. I'm scared to fail, I'm terrified that I'm going to have a seizure on set or something else is going to go wrong medically and my career will be over."

Kuu looked at him sadly, he nodded. It wasn't a bad thing or incorrect thing to think. It was true, if something happened to Kuon on set and it was picked up by the wrong people then they might not think that he was healthy enough to be working there. The enjoyment that he had with acting would be over and that was what motivated him most.

"I'm scared too," Kuu told him thinking that honesty was best in this situation. "I am," he nodded again. "I was terrified that I was going to lose you. Every seizure that you go to makes me feel like I'd never be able to eat again. You nearly died. You nearly died and it's so amazing that you're even alive," he put a hand on Kuon's shoulder, squeezing it a little. "Do you think that there's anything that I can do."

Kuon shook his head, "I just need to sit here for a little longer," he said as he stared in front of him and Kuu nodded, his expression not changing from that of a concerned father.

"Then we'll just sit," he replied, "anything that you'd like to discuss whilst we are sitting here?"

Kuon shook his head and Kuu put a hand on his back trying to show his support.

"Then we'll just sit," he repeated as he wanted to do something for Kuon but he didn't know how to help. Kuon would have to tell him how to help.

…

…

Julie looked at Kuon nervously as he stared out the window. It was in the morning and she had plans this afternoon but Kuu would be here during that time. She just wanted to make sure that her little boy would have a good breakfast. She walked over to him, wanting to make up for those years when he wasn't near her.

"Are you feeling okay?" she asked, "Your father is making breakfast today. I'm sure that it'll taste amazing."

"Dad's food always tastes good," Kuon said as he continued to look out into the yard and she saw a bird on the tree. She placed a hand on his shoulder. "I'll pass on breakfast though."

"Are you sure?" Julie asked nervously. She had smelled cleaning products in the downstairs bathroom this morning which meant that he had thrown up or had some other problem and she wanted for him to feel better. Even if he only ate a few pieces of fruit, he would have something in his system.

Kuon sighed and turned his full attention to his mother, "Did Dad tell you about last night?" he asked, "or this morning?"

Julie paused and shook her head. Had something happened? Had it been another seizure or something worse? Projectile vomiting? Had Kuon needed help? Had her little boy been suffering? She felt her thoughts spinning faster and faster inside her head, progressively getting worse until she wanted to yell out that she was scared of something happening to him.

"What happened?" she asked in the calmest manner possible.

"It was nothing," Kuon shook his head, "Just a little talk that we had. I couldn't sleep so Dad sat with me until I was ready to go back to bed. I was wondering if he had told you about some of the things we talked about. I'm nervous when it comes to acting and I don't know, I want to do it but do you think that I can."

Julie looked at him with her usual brand of determination, "I think you can do anything that you want to, Kuon. Anything that you put your mind to because you are my wonderful, strong, handsome son and there's no man on earth that compares to you aside from your father. I couldn't ask for a better son."

Kuon looked out the window again. Somehow he could feel a nervousness when it came to cars especially larger vehicles and that was scary to him as well. He had loved racing cars, driving cars. He had done that stunt in Dark Moon after all so he wasn't sure why his body tensed up around larger vehicles. He sighed. There was the Rick thing but that was a while ago and he had enjoyed cars after that. Maybe it was wrong to enjoy cars after that had happened but it hadn't stopped it from happening.

He wasn't sure what had happened during the accident that he was in but maybe he wouldn't get over it. Sometimes people _didn't_ get over things.

Julie stood up and wrapped her arms around her little boy, she kissed his cheek affectionately. "It's okay. We're here for you, we're all here for you," she said and Kuon nodded as he squeezed her hand. He had never felt so weak in his whole life.

…..

…..

Kyoko looked back at Kuon as they had their lunch. She had suggested that they go out to have something to eat and she was thinking that Kuon would tell her that he didn't need to eat but it hadn't happened like that and Kuon had agreed to go to a café that Julie and Kuu both loved. However, he didn't seem like himself. He was so much more distant than he had been before. Was it the wheelchair that was making him feel like this?

"Does it feel good to be home?" she asked him and he nodded. She bit her top lip. Usually the conversation between the two of them was effortless. Kuon was usually a great conversationalist and very charming and personable but after the accident he had become more withdrawn and he wasn't speaking as much as he usually did.

It was definitely awkward for Kyoko.

"I'm sure that there are a lot of things that you want to see," she told him as she hesitated. Would he tell her to get lost if he knew the truth about the accident? She didn't want for that to be the case but if he didn't know what happened then would he be hurting as much? "I'd love to see them, all the places you loved as a kid."

"It's fine," Kuon said as he glanced at the water in front of him. He shook his head and gave a long sigh.

"Are you okay?" Kyoko asked nervously and Kuon nodded. "If it's your head or if your body doesn't feel up to being out then I understand. We can go back to the house. Is that going to make things better?" she asked and Kuon turned to her.

"I protected you, right?" he asked her and Kyoko nodded slowly. "When I got injured, it was because I was protecting you. I just don't understand how I…I never told you that I was Corn, did I? You only found that out after you saw me."

Kyoko's back straightened and she struggled with how to respond to that. He had told her that he was Corn and that was what had been the cause for him walking out and her nearly getting hurt and him saving her life. He had risked his own life – which he had very nearly lost – to save hers and it was all because she wouldn't listen to him.

"I don't really know when I found out…" she said nervously and Kuon turned to her confused.

Kuon looked at her puzzled by what she had confessed to him, he looked aside awkwardly. "I don't…" he said slowly, "I don't understand," he laughed weakly before cringing as his headache increased. He didn't remember much surrounding the incident so he wasn't sure what Kyoko was attempting to tell him. "I'm really sorry, I don't…" he said nervously and Kyoko took a deep breath in.

"You only got hurt because I rejected you," she told him honestly and Kuon felt his stomach drop and his heart stop.

"I don't understand," he whispered again and Kyoko tensed, "If that's the reason then why are you here?" he asked and Kyoko scrambled to come up with an answer.

 **End of Chapter Thirteen**

 **Thank you for reading, reviews are appreciated**

 **Thank you to the reviewers of Chapter Twelve**

Guest (x2), H-Nala, Kaname671, Paulagato


	14. Chapter 14 - Reasons

**AN:** I'm going to be honest, this fic is annoying me and so I'm going to put it on hiatus. I wanted to write a longer chapter for you guys but I couldn't. Sorry and I hope you enjoy.

 **Chapter Fourteen - Reasons**

"I don't understand," Kuon whispered as he tried to keep himself calm and his head under control. He didn't want to stress himself out by thinking too much and he was having a harder time comprehending things, even he could say that with confidence. He looked at her. "If that's the reason then why are you here?"

Kyoko shifted. She had followed him across the world and she was starting to see the similarities between Kuon and Shotaro. She looked at him and opened her mouth just a little before shaking her head. "I felt guilty," she said and Kuon paused. He looked at her again, his head making him feel weak.

"I can't deal with this right now," he said before turning in the direction that they would take to go back to the HIzuri house. He loved the water and he didn't want anything bad to happen there. He didn't want to have bad memories at the place where he felt he could heal. "I'm sorry, let's just go…"

"Kuon," Kyoko said as she followed him, "You told me that you were Corn before the accident but I'd been scared. I didn't know what to do. My feelings weren't in control and…"

"and that's….that's…what it is," Kuon said as he started to hear a buzz. "We need to leave."

"You need to give me a chance to explain," Kyoko told him and Kuon started visibly shaking but with the tears filling her eyes, Kyoko wasn't sure whether it was because of the tears that she was seeing him break or if something was physically wrong. No. Corn was strong. Corn had always been strong and she had always seen Ren as strong.

"No," Kuon told her. "We'll talk later. I need for us to go back to the house."

"Because you're angry?" Kyoko asked weakly and Kuon shook his head. It was as if he had just stuck a plug into the wrong socket and as if code was filling his mind. He got down onto his knees, put a hand to his forehead, and collapsed.

…

…

Julie came to the hospital as soon as she learned there was a problem. She felt guilty about Kuon being in this type of a situation. Of course he wasn't doing well. He had gone through things that most people wouldn't be able to live through and he had healed but he still had a lot of healing that he had to go through. She took nervous breaths before closing her eyes and facing the wall.

"Okay, it's okay, he's okay," she tried to remind herself. She tried to keep her breaths steady before hearing a weak chuckle behind her.

"H-Hey," Kuon whispered as he rolled himself out to meet her and Julie gasped. Once again he was in a wheelchair. Had something that bad happened? He turned to him and Julie tried to settle herself enough to sit down opposite him. "Are you…o-okay," he flinched and Julie nodded. She reached out to take Kuon's hand in her own.

"How about you, darling?" she asked, her eyes filling with tears as she tried to hold back the pain that went through her like a waterfall. She breathed slowly and he nodded. "What happened?" she asked before Kyoko walked over to them. Julie looked at her uncomfortably and then turned back to Kuon.

"It's okay," Kuon replied in a whisper that Julie could only hear because she was close enough. She wanted to protest to that. The way that Kuon was right now wasn't okay. _He_ wasn't okay. She wiped her eyes and looked between Kuon and Kyoko again.

"I mean, was it anything unusual that you'd like your father or I to look into?" Julie inquired, she only wanted to do what was best for her baby and being a mother in her situation was stressful. She didn't know what had calmed Kuon down during his early twenties or what he could do for fun. Usually you learned along with your child but she had been gone from a large part of his life.

"I told him," Kyoko said and Kuon shook his head in disagreement, "or I was trying to tell him about the accident."

"I don't wa-wa-nt…talk abo-outtt…it," Kuon said firmly and Julie rubbed his shoulders. She often massaged Kuu's shoulders like this to get the tension out of them and to give him room to feel in control of the stress. She wanted to be able to give Kuon that type of comfort as well.

"I only want to explain that…" Kyoko began but Julie sighed and shook her head.

"I understand that you feel you're helping and I'm not trying to be rude but maybe when we're out of the hospital and maybe not until you _both_ feel ready to talk about what happened that day. I don't want there to be any discomfort between the two of you," she said as she tried to give Kyoko a look to ask her not to approach the subject even further.

To Julie, if Kuon forgot something hurtful and it could be forgotten without much trouble then it was best forgotten. She could understand why Kyoko would want the truth to come out but sometimes the truth was best forgotten and Julie was a vicious lioness trying to take care of her cub.

"I'll go and see your doctor and get the forms for your release," Julie told her son before looking at Kyoko and begged that she didn't continue with these tales from the past. Kuon needed help to heal and although Julie wanted for Kyoko to be able to help him, she was having doubts about the emotional stress that the young woman brought with her especially in relation to her precious Kuon.

…

…

Kyoko felt nervous being in the elegant Hizuri house. She had wanted to spend some time with Kuon and get to know him as a person but she now had the feeling that her presence within this house was actually doing more harm than good. Kuon had made attempts to tell her as Ren and because she was so stubborn, she had been willing to let him go. She wouldn't have chased after him if he hadn't been Corn though she would have regretted it later and had to nurse her own broken and foolish heart. Maybe she was just an imposition on the family whom nobody wanted to insult.

Kyoko sighed and then looked up as Julie came into the hallway. "Julie-san," Kyoko said quickly as she got up and Julie sighed.

"Kuon is talking with his father," she said and Kyoko nodded. "I…did you want to help me in the kitchen?" she offered and Kyoko's eyes widened and she nodded. She could cook. She was always good at preparing meals and helping out with housework. This way she felt like she could be part of the family.

"What are they talking about?" Kyoko asked and Julie shrugged. Kyoko blinked, maybe it was over the line for her to ask what they were discussing. Yes, she was an outsider to the situation. She had to be respectful and show her appreciation at what the family had given her.

"I care about Kuon but he wants to talk to Kuu alone. I'm sure they'll tell me later," Julie said and then turned to Kyoko, raising an eyebrow and saying in a manner that caused Kyoko to take a couple of steps back. "I hope that you weren't planning on eavesdropping."

Kyoko laughed but saw the serious nature of Julie's expression. Once again, she felt uncomfortable with the situation. "I think that maybe I'll take a walk," she said, "Thank you again for everything," she said as she dropped into a deep bow. Julie sighed slightly but then smiled. Kyoko was a good girl who was in a tough situation, she wanted to remind herself not to be too hard on her.

…..

…..

Kuon looked to his father a little nervously. He had always felt like he wanted to impress his father and live up to the example he had set which was why saying this was so difficult. He didn't want to disappoint the man who had always been his hero. Hopefully his father would understand and would forgive him for this.

"Dad," Kuon said weakly and Kuu nodded.

"Is something wrong?" Kuu asked as he moved towards Kuon and Kuon sighed. The wheelchair made things more difficult now but it wasn't all about the wheelchair and Kuon didn't want his dad to think that that was the problem. He sighed.

"I don't think I want to return to acting," Kuon said and Kuu sighed and shook his head in disbelief. That made Kuon pull back a little bit. His father had been watching him act as Ren Tsuruga and Kuon didn't want to risk being seen as either a failure or a disappointment. "I mean, I don't think that it's for me and…"

"It's about your head?" Kuu guessed and Kuon shook his head. No. It wasn't just because of the painful headaches that he had. His perspective of the world had definitely changed and not for the better. He was doubting his place in the world around him and that was something he shouldn't do. "If it's something medical there are ways around it, accommodations that you can try, not all directors are unreasonable."

Kuon pushed a hand through his hair, "It's more than that. I just don't seem to understand my position in the world any longer. I want to find out what happened that day, what caused me to risk so much."

Kuu sighed, "Kyoko," he shrugged and Kuon turned to him, "If you're wondering what caused you to risk so much, it was Kyoko."

 **End of Chapter Fourteen**

 **Thank you for reading**

 **Thank you to the reviewers of Chapter Thirteen**

Guest, H-Nala, Kaname671, PaulaGaTo


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